It’s been almost two decades since Spike Lee and Denzel Washington worked together, and they’re finally gearing up for another collaboration. Washington will lead Lee’s A24 thriller High and Low, inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film of the same name.
Kurosawa’s original film centered on a board member at a Yokohama shoe company, who finds himself at the center of an extortion plot after his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom. Lee’s film is described as a reinterpretation of Kurosawa’s masterpiece and it’s unclear how similar they would be.
Washington and Lee go way back and they’ve collaborated on multiple occasions in the past, most recently on Inside Man in 2006. Washington received an Oscar nomination for his leading role in Lee’s Malcolm X, in addition to starring in his films He Got Game and Mo’ Better Blues.
High and Low will be released by A24, and they’ve developed it alongside Escape Artists and Mandalay Pictures. The film will later stream on Apple TV+, and it marks the second collaboration between A24, Apple Original Films, and Washington, following The Tragedy of Macbeth.
In addition to directing, Lee wrote the script alongside Alan Fox and he’ll executive produce the project through 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks banner.
