Apple and A24 today unveiled the first trailer for Highest 2 Lowest, their Kurosawa-inspired crime thriller reuniting Spike Lee and Denzel Washington for the first time since Inside Man back in 2006.

Slated to hit select theaters August 22 before arriving on Apple TV+ on September 5, the film is a modern reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low, which was itself based on the novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain. While the original thriller follows a shoe company exec who becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom, the new film, set in contemporary NYC, sees a music mogul played by Washington contend with a similar plot.

“There’s more to life than just making money,” says Washington in the trailer. “There’s integrity; there’s what you stand for. There’s what you actually believe in. Do you believe in yourself? Do you believe you’ll be successful?”

The character contends that “the hard times will come from the good times. The hard times will come from success. The hard times will come from the money. And the mayhem follows.”

The question is, then, “Can you handle the mayhem? Can you handle the money? Can you handle the success? Can you handle the failure? Can you handle the lovers? Can you handle the memes? Can you handle everything that’s in between?”

For more, read the full report by Deadline.

Archive: Apple TV News