Spike Lee’s Next Joint ‘Hightest 2 Lowest’ Starring Denzel Washington Will Debut Out of Competition At Cannes
Written by djfrosty on April 10, 2025
Despite being left off Thierry Frémaux’s list of Official Selection titles Thursday morning, Spike Lee’s latest film, Highest 2 Lowest, will debut Out of Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Taking to Instagram, Lee announced the good news, writing in the caption of a photo featuring production merch from the upcoming film “Bon Jour. Good Morning. Whaddup❓Da New SPIKE LEE JOINT-HIGHEST 2 LOWEST Starring My Brother DENZEL WASHINGTON Has Been Invited To Da 2025 CANNES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (In The Out Of Competition Category). AND DAT’S DA BOTTLES OF 🍾 🥂TRUTH, RUTH. YA-DIG❓SHO-NUFF.”
Following Spike’s announcement, the film festival confirmed the film’s addition and also revealed why it was left off the list.
“The film was not announced this morning due to one final piece of information we were awaiting — the confirmation of Denzel Washington’s presence at Cannes. Highest 2 Lowest, directed by Spike Lee, will indeed be presented as part of the Official Selection, Out of Competition, and will be screened, in the presence of Denzel Washington, on Monday, May 19, 2025,” the statement read.
Spike Lee Kurosawa’s 2 Lowest Is A Reimiganing of The Original Film
As for the film, Lee confirmed while speaking at the Red Sea Film Festival that his film is not a remake of AkiraKurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low but a “reinterpretation.”
The film will reunite longtime collaborators Lee and Washington for a fifth time. The duo previously worked on Malcolm X, Mo’Better Blues, He Got Game, and Inside Man.
While Kurosawa’s film followed an executive at a Yokohama shoe company who gets extorted after his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.
In Lee’s reimagining of the original, Washington plays a music mogul who runs a music label.
“In Kurosawa’s film, Toshiro Mifune is a shoemaker,” said Lee. “In our film, Denzel Washington is a music mogul with his own label and his reputation as the best ears in the business. So, this is the fifth film with the dynamic duo.”
Apple Original Films and A24 will partner on Lee’s nexrt joint. A24 will handle the film’s theatrical release before its launch on launch on AppleTV+.