Highest 2 Lowest | |
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Directed by | Spike Lee |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | King's Ransom by Ed McBain |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Matthew Libatique |
Edited by |
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Production companies | |
Distributed by |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Highest 2 Lowest is an upcoming American crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee. It is an English-language remake of the 1963 Japanese film High and Low , itself loosely based on the 1959 novel King's Ransom by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter). The film stars Denzel Washington, Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice, and ASAP Rocky. It is scheduled to be released theatrically by A24 before its Apple TV+ release.
Spike Lee received the original script by Alan Fox prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and was involved with rewriting it after Denzel Washington became attached to star. [3] [4] In February 2024, the film was announced, to be produced by A24, Todd Black for Escape Artists, and Jason Michael Berman for Mandalay Pictures, with Lee as director and executive producer through his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks label. [5] It is the fifth collaboration between Lee and Washington, and their most recent since Inside Man (2006). [4] Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, and Ice Spice joined the cast in the following months. [6] [7] [8] According to Lee, ASAP Rocky has the "main role" in the film. [4] Principal photography began in New York City on March 4, 2024, with Matthew Libatique as cinematographer, and wrapped on May 31. [9] [10]
The film is set to be released theatrically by A24 in spring 2025 before it is available to stream on Apple TV+. [5]
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has won numerous accolades for his work, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Peabody Awards. He has also been honored with an Honorary BAFTA Award in 2002, an Honorary César in 2003, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2015.
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, The New York Times named him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020. He has received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. Washington has been honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022.
Mandalay Pictures is an American independent film production company founded on May 27, 1995, which is part of producer and businessman Peter Guber's Mandalay Entertainment. From 1997 until 2002, Lions Gate Entertainment owned a stake in Mandalay Pictures before selling it. The company's mascot is a tiger.
High and Low is a 1963 Japanese police procedural crime film directed and edited by Akira Kurosawa and written by Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Eijiro Hisaita, and Ryūzō Kikushima. The film is loosely based on the 1959 novel King's Ransom by Ed McBain. It follows the story of a board member for a Japanese company who is forced to make a decision between using a vast amount of borrowed wealth to gain executive control and helping his employee by lending him the money to free his child from kidnappers. The film stars Toshiro Mifune as the wealthy board member Kingo Gondo, and Tatsuya Nakadai as Inspector Tokura, the man charged with solving the kidnapping case.
Jeffrey Wright is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. Wright began his career in theater where he gained prominence for his role in the Broadway production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America (1993), for which he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He reprised his role in the acclaimed 2003 HBO miniseries adaptation, earning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.
Stage 6 Films, Inc. is an American film production label of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions that acquires and produces feature films that are low budget and that are being released direct-to-disc, on demand, or through streaming services. Some of their films are also being released theatrically. Once a film is finished, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions will decide if the film will be released theatrically or on a different platform.
King's Ransom: An 87th Precinct Mystery is a novel by Ed McBain published in 1959, part of his 87th Precinct series of police procedural novels and short stories. It centers on the moral dilemma faced by a wealthy man when he is forced to choose between using his wealth to fulfill a personal ambition or saving the life of a kidnapped child.
Denzel Washington is an American actor known for his performance on stage and screen. Washington made his feature film debut in Carbon Copy (1981). In 1982, Washington made his first appearance in the medical drama St. Elsewhere as Dr. Philip Chandler. The role proved to be the breakthrough in his career. He starred as Private First Class Melvin Peterson in the drama A Soldier's Story (1984). The film was an adaptation of the Off-Broadway play A Soldier's Play (1981–1983) in which Washington had earlier portrayed the same character.
Ilfenesh Hadera is an American actress.
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a 2021 American historical thriller film written, directed and produced by Joel Coen, based on the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. It is the first film directed by one of the Coen brothers without the other's involvement. The film stars Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Kathryn Hunter, and Brendan Gleeson.
Apple Studios LLC is an American film, television and in-house production company that is a subsidiary of Apple Inc. It specializes in developing and producing original television series and films for Apple's digital video streaming service Apple TV+ as well as films that are intended for theatrical releases.
2AM is an American independent film production and management company founded in 2021 by Christine D'Souza Gelb, David Hinojosa, and Kevin Rowe. The company is best known for producing films such as Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022), The Starling Girl (2023), and Past Lives (2023).