Spike Lee and Denzel Washington are reimagining the 1963 criminal drama High and Low by Akira Kurosawa for the fifth time. Beginning in March, the duo, whose prior collaborations include Malcolm X and He Got Game, will film a reinterpretation. The original film, which is based on Ed McBain’s novel King’s Ransom, stars Toshiro Mifune as an affluent man who is destitute after paying the ransom for a kidnapping.
Additionally, Steven Soderbergh drew inspiration for the narrative in his 2023 miniseries Full Circle. It was anticipated that Martin Scorsese would produce a remake of a film written by David Mamet in 2008, but that plan never materialized.
Lee has previously expressed his admiration for Kurosawa, asserting that Rashomon influenced his 1986 comedy She’s Gotta Have It. Lee responded to a question last year regarding the endurance of his career: “Kurosawa was 86 years old! “At the very least, I must visit Kurosawa.”
Kurosawa’s works have been remade on numerous occasions in the past, most recently with the 2022 film Living, a reinterpretation of Ikiru that starred the Oscar-nominated Bill Nighy.
Additional Information Regarding The Remake
The remake will be theatrically distributed by A24 before its arrival on Apple TV+, in a manner analogous to that of The Tragedy of Macbeth, for which Washington was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
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Alan Fox, an accomplished playwright and former college basketball model, will compose the script. Fox was also featured in the Fifteen music video by Taylor Swift. His screenplay Queens of the Stone Age, which stars Dakota Johnson and is about a model who becomes a marijuana dealer, has been acquired by Sony.
Recently, Washington appeared in The Equalizer 3, a film that grossed $191 million worldwide. In addition, he will co-star with Paul Mescal in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 this year.
Lee last appeared in the 2020 film Da 5 Bloods. His final collaboration with Washington was the suspense film Inside Man (2006).
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Todd Black (“Emancipation,” “The Equalizer” movie) for Escape Artists and Jason Michael Berman (“Air,” “Nine Days”) for Mandalay Pictures will produce the motion picture. Through his 40 Acres And A Mule Filmworks, Lee will executive produce in addition to directing. Executive producers will be Peter Guber of Mandalay, Matthew Lindner, Chris Brigham, and Katia Washington of Juniper Productions. Co-producing is Jordan Moldo of Mandalay.
Lee and Washington have previously collaborated on “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Malcolm X,” “He Got Game,” and “Inside Man.” Washington’s current project with Todd Black follows work on “Fences,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and the “The Equalizer” trilogy.
This marks Washington’s second collaboration with Apple Original Films, following “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” also from A24, which earned him his tenth Oscar nomination for Best Actor. WME represents Washington, while Gersh and Grubman represent Lee. Fox is represented by Grandview.