A24 just dropped the official trailer for Highest 2 Lowest.
A24 just dropped the official trailer for Highest 2 Lowest, the heart-pounding neo-noir thriller helmed by Spike Lee. It took the 2025 Cannes Film Festival by storm, and now we know it’ll hit theaters on August 15 and stream on Apple TV+ starting September 5.
The plot kicks off when the most powerful music mogul in the game—killer ears, awards on the shelf—faces a chilling ransom demand. He’s forced into a deadly moral standoff. Denzel Washington and Spike Lee reunite for the fifth time, reimagining Akira Kurosawa’s legendary thriller High and Low, now set on the grimy, electric streets of present-day NYC.
What’s in the new trailer?
We follow Denzel with the business ruthlessness that won him Oscars, racing to strike a deal with a kidnapper holding his son. Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, and a cameo from hip-hop star Ice Spice round out the cast, along with A$AP Rocky, Dean Winters, and John Douglas Thompson. Prepare for a ride that hits harder than a record drop.
According to Yahoo Highest 2 Lowest is directed and executive produced by Spike Lee. The screenplay is by William Alan Fox and is loosely inspired by the 1959 novel King’s Random by Ed McBain.
According to IMDb This is the fifth time Lee and Washington have teamed up since Mo’ Better Blues in 1990, followed by Malcolm X in 1992, He Got Game in 1998, and Inside Man in 2006. According To Apple The executive production team includes Chris Brigham, Kana Idetsu Broadhurst, Peter Guber, Ko Kurosawa, Matthew Lindner, and Katia Washington.
WHO’S IN THE CAST?
Highest 2 Lowest stars two-time Academy Award winner Washington as a powerful New York music mogul. His son, played by Aubrey Joseph, is kidnapped for ransom. According To IMDb “Somebody’s got our son,” Washington’s character, David King, says in the film’s trailer.
Ilfenesh Hadera plays King’s wife, while Jeffrey Wright and A$AP Rocky round out the cast. Rocky not only appears on-screen but also creates new, original music for the film’s soundtrack.
The Backstory
Inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s powerful 1963 film High and Low, this new thriller unfolds in present-day New York City. It debuted at Cannes to electric applause. Director Spike Lee has long cited Kurosawa as a guiding light, recalling how a college screening of the Japanese master’s work changed how he sees storytelling on film.
Who’s Behind the Scenes
Kurosawa’s original film grew from Ed McBain’s novel King’s Ransom. The 1963 script was a team effort: Kurosawa, co-writers Hideo Oguni and Ryūzō Kikushima, and dialogue guru Eijirō Hisaita. This update comes from William Alan Fox, with producers Todd Black and Jason Michael Berman steering the ship.
Awards Chances
With Denzel Washington at the center and Lee directing, Oscar whispers are already ringing. Washington owns two statuettes, while Lee collected an honorary award in 2015, then snagged a competitive best-adapted screenplay Oscar in 2019 for BlacKkKlansman. Adding to the heat, Ruth Negga, a Tony and Emmy winner, rounds out a cast built for trophies.
When Can I Watch It
Highest 2 Lowest hits theaters August 15 and streams on Apple TV+ September 5.
Denzel Washington Plays Music Mogul in Ransom Nightmare in Highest 2 Lowest Trailer. Spike Lee and Denzel Washington are finally back together after almost twenty years apart.
Apple and A24 just dropped the first trailer for Highest 2 Lowest, a modern crime thriller based on Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic, High and Low. The movie hits theaters on August 15 and lands on Apple TV+ for streaming starting September 5.
From Kurosawa to the Concrete Jungle
Highest 2 Lowest moves the moral tension of Kurosawa’s story from post-war Japan to the streets of present-day New York City. Washington steps into the shoes of a powerful hip-hop mogul whose world collapses when a cold-hearted kidnapper snatches his chauffeur’s child by mistake.
The mogul must now stare down a soul-crushing choice: pay the ransom for a kid he barely knows or protect the empire he built. The film carries the DNA of High and Low, which was inspired by Ed McBain’s crime novel King’s Ransom, but Lee sharpens the lens to explore race, class, power, and the steep price of redemption in America today.
A Reunion 19 Years in the Making?
Highest 2 Lowest marks the first team-up between Spike Lee and Denzel Washington since 2006’s Inside Man, which was both a box office smash and a critical darling. Just seeing these two back together is a reason to cheer, but the cast levels up the excitement.
A$AP Rocky trades bars for lines in a rare acting turn, while Emmy champ Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson, and the must-see Ice Spice also show up.
The film rolled into the 2025 Cannes Film Festival’s out-of-competition slot and lit up the Croisette. For Lee, the moment was extra special: it marked his sixth tour in the Official Selection and landed exactly 36 years after Do the Right Thing first burned onto Cannes screens in 1989.
A New York State of Crime?
Kurosawa’s classic leaned on long, pained takes and icy black-and-white to sketch moral murk; the Highest 2 Lowest trailer, by contrast, guns straight into a racing neon blitz of the city’s darkest corners.
Spike’s vivid palette, trademark dolly moves, and 24-7 political backdrop swirl on every frame. Hints of a winding plot rise: a police probe, media puppets, and the quiet call of cold cash. Spike Lee teamed up with Alan Fox to bring the vision of Highest 2 Lowest to the screen.
Todd Black of Escape Artists and Jason Michael Berman at Mandalay Pictures lifted the film off the page, with Lee overseeing the project from 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, along with Peter Guber, Katia Washington—Denzel’s daughter—Matthew Lindner, Chris Brigham, and Jordan Moldo, who all pitched in as executive producers.
After The Tragedy of Macbeth and Beau Is Afraid, Apple and A24 double down on cinematic craft with Highest 2 Lowest. Both companies continue chasing films with a singular voice, proving that a studio-backed streaming picture can still push boundaries and spark conversation.
Lay your attention on the new trailer, which teases Lee’s signature look at power, payback, and the price of reputation. Catch it in theaters on August 15, and watch it stream on Apple TV+ starting September 5.
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