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Spike Lee and Denzel Washington are set to reunite for the first time in 17 years. This time, the pair are teaming up with A24 and Apple TV Plus for a reimagining of Oscar-winning filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's 1963 crime flick High and Low.
The outing will mark their fifth collaboration as actor and director, following Mo' Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992), He Got Game (1998), and 2006's Inside Man. Apple announced the news on Twitter on February 9, stating that filming on the reinterpretation will kick off in March.
Loosely based on the novel King's Ransom by Ed McBain, Kurosawa's High and Low follows Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), a wealthy man who winds up in financial ruin when he lends his desperate chauffeur money so that he can pay off his son's kidnappers. Martin Scorsese was linked to an unfinished reboot back in 2008, while Steven Soderbergh used the same story as inspiration for his 2023 miniseries Full Circle.
Lee has made no secret of the fact that he's a Kurosawa fan, having previously stated even that his 1986 comedy She's Gotta Have It was influenced by the Japanese director's 1950 drama Rashomon. Elsewhere, Washington is no stranger to launching films with Apple TV Plus, having received a best actor Oscar nomination for his performance in its Shakespeare retelling The Tragedy of Macbeth.
Washington and Lee's yet-to-be-titled take on High and Low will be released in select theaters before streaming on Apple TV Plus exclusively. While we wait for more news on the upcoming film, check out our picks of the most exciting upcoming movies heading our way.
