Spike Lee says his new feature Highest 2 Lowest is a reinvention of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low, shifting the 1963 kidnapping drama to present-day New York and framing it through the music business and the age of parasocial relationships. In a new interview, he describes relocating the moral dilemma to the “canyons and subways” of the city and opening the film with a classic show tune to set a brash, modern tone.
The film reunites Lee and Denzel Washington for a fifth collaboration; Washington plays David King, a label executive whose chauffeur’s son is abducted, drawing him into a showdown that includes a basement studio rap face-off with the kidnapper, played by A$AP Rocky.
After a May world premiere out of competition at Cannes—where Washington received a surprise Palme d’Or tribute from festival organizers—the film is moving quickly into release. It opens in U.S. theaters on August 15 via A24 and begins streaming on Apple TV+ on September 5. A New York City premiere was held on August 11 as the campaign ramps up with a full trailer and early screenings.
Washington’s character is presented as a mogul with exacting standards and a public image to match, while Rocky’s antagonist emerges from the city’s creative underbelly; Lee has previously hinted that the rapper’s role is central to the story’s design. The supporting cast includes Jeffrey Wright and Ice Spice, with the production photographed by Matthew Libatique and edited by Barry Alexander Brown and Allyson C. Johnson.
Music is a defining element of the rollout. Alongside the theatrical opening, A24 Music is issuing a soundtrack featuring new songs, an original score by Howard Drossin, and a jazz EP led by Scottish pianist Fergus McCreadie—an unusual three-part package that mirrors the film’s blend of glossy pop and downtown grit.
Lee’s remarks about reimagining Kurosawa’s narrative as a contemporary New York parable place the project within a long tradition of adaptations that translate classic crime stories into new cultural contexts while preserving their ethical stakes.
