Apple and A24 released their Highest 2 Lowest trailer, their Kurosawa-inspired crime thriller. It will see director Spike Lee and actor-director Denzel Washington collaborate for the first time since Inside Man back in 2006.
The director and actor have collaborated several times over the years in notable projects like Malcolm X, Mo’ Better Blues and He Got Game.
The film will hit theaters on August 15 before arriving on Apple TV+ on September 5. The story is a modern reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low, which was itself based on the novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain.
The original 1963 Japanese police crime movie revolves around a businessman who is striving for control over a major shoe company at which he is a board member. He plans a leveraged buyout of the company with his life savings, when a kidnapper mistakenly abducts his chauffeur's son to ransom him for 30 million yen.
Highest 2 Lowest is set in modern day New York and stars Denzel Washington as a music mogul tied up in a life-or-death ransom plot. Widely known as having the “best ears in the business”, when Denzel is targeted with a ransom plot, he faces a moral quandary.
Jeffrey Wright plays Paul, one of David’s trusted confidantes, who opens the trailer saying: “I need theme music.” Things quickly spiral out of control from there.
The cast includes A$AP Rocky, as well as Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson and Ice Spice.
A$AP Rocky plays Yung Felon, an aspiring rapper, who is willing to go to extreme lengths to gain recognition from a powerful music mogul.
Highest 2 Lowest debuted had its first screening at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, but it was not part of the films competing for awards.
The film was produced by Escape Artists and Mandalay Pictures, with Todd Black and Jason Michael Berman serving as producers. Executive producers include Spike Lee from 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Peter Guber from Mandalay, Katia Washington, etc.