Spike Lee has Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, a James Brown hit, and A$AP Rocky in the first official trailer for his new joint, Highest 2 Lowest.
A24 and Apple Original Films released the video on Monday, August 4, showing Washington at his finest as music mogul David King.
“There’s more to life than just making money. There’s integrity, there’s what you stand for,” King says while James Brown’s “The Payback” plays in the background.
Suddenly his son (Aubrey Joseph) is kidnapped by a mystery man leaving King “jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma,” according to the official description.
The mysterious kidnapper demands $17.5 million in a black Jordan backpack.
But King says in a phone call as police record, “I ain’t got it!”
The kidnapper tells him to find the money because he has serious bills to pay, he needs cash, and he’s not going back to prison.
Related: Ryan Coogler Teases Denzel Washington in ‘Black Panther 3’
Highest 2 Lowest is set in New York City and King’s right hand, played by Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction), moves around town with a gun he calls his “insurance policy.”
A$AP Rocky plays a character named Yung Felon and seemingly has nothing to lose but his freedom. Later King demands, “Where’s my money?”
The cast also includes Ilfenesh Hadera (Godfather of Harlem), Dean Winters (Law & Order: SVU), John Douglas Thompson (The Gilded Age), and Michael Potts (who played the iconic Brother Mouzone on The Wire).
The film is inspired by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low. Kurosawa’s version centered on a shoe company executive and an extortion plot.
The upcoming thriller screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and received a positive reception. It currently has an 89 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from a total of 39 reviews.
The movie marks the fifth collaboration between Oscar winners Spike Lee and Denzel Washington after Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man.
Evan Hunter wrote the script for the film. Lee directed the English-language remake and executive produced it through his 40 Acres And A Mule Filmworks.
Distributor A24 is the studio behind best picture Oscar winners Everything Everywhere All at Once and Moonlight.
Highest 2 Lowest arrives in theaters Aug. 15 and begins streaming Sept. 5 on Apple TV+.
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