Spike Lee unveiled a surprise teaser trailer for his upcoming film Highest 2 Lowest, offering fans a sneak peek into his reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low. The 51-second clip, which Lee released early via Instagram, kicks off with a powerful monologue about the perils of success by star Denzel Washington, set to James Brown’s classic revenge track, “The Payback.”
The film co-stars rapper and Ray-Ban creative director A$AP Rocky in a leading role, with Washington portraying a powerful record executive. Other cast members include Jeffrey Wright and rising rapper Ice Spice, who is making her acting debut. The teaser showcases plenty of intense visuals, including an NYPD car chase, a masked motorcyclist robbery, and scenes from New York’s Puerto Rican Day Parade, all underscoring Lee’s return to NYC-based storytelling after a 13-year hiatus.
Highest 2 Lowest marks the fifth collaboration between Lee and two-time Oscar winner Washington, following Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man. The pair’s latest cinematic collab is particularly notable, as it reunites the duo for the first time in nearly two decades since 2006’s Inside Man. The film is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival later this month, with an A24 theatrical release scheduled for August 22 and an Apple TV+ streaming date starting September 5. Watch the trailer below.
