The first teaser trailer for the crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest — the new creation of Oscar-winning director Spike Lee and screenwriter William Alan Fox, which reimagines Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 police drama.
Both films, in turn, are based on Ed McBain’s detective novel «King’s Ransom» and tell the story of a businessman who is trying to decide whether to use his wealth to further his career or save the life of a child. In Lee’s version, the protagonist is a music producer (Kurosawa’s story was about a shoe salesman), and the child in danger is the son of his chauffeur, who is mistakenly kidnapped and held for ransom.
The lead roles were taken on by rapper ASAP Rocky and Denzel Washington, for whom «From the Top to the Bottom» was the fifth collaboration with Spike Lee, but the first in the last 20 years. Their joint work includes the musical «The Blues for a Better Life» (1990), the sports drama «His Game» (1998) and the crime thriller «Not Caught — Not a Thief» (2006).
The rest of the cast includes Ilfenesh Hadera, Ice Spice, John Douglas Thompson, Dean Winters, and Jeffrey Wright, who can currently be seen in The Last of Us, where he reprises the role of Isaac from the games.
The teaser trailer offers several short scenes (including the protagonists’ escape from the police) against the backdrop of Washington’s voiceover, which says:
«There is more to life than just making money. It is honesty. It’s about what you stand for. It’s what you really believe in. Do you believe in yourself? Do you believe that you will succeed? Hard times will come from good times. Hard times will come from success. Hard times will come with money. And with it comes chaos. So can you handle the chaos? Can you handle money? Can you handle success? Can you handle failure? That’s my question to you: can you handle it? Not all money — good money».
Highest 2 Lowest will debut in theaters on August 22 and will be available on Apple TV+ starting September 5.
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