Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in English
It wasn’t wishful thinking — Spike Lee‘s “Highest 2 Lowest” will officially premiere out of competition at Cannes Film Festival, artistic director Thierry Fremaux has confirmed to Variety.
The legendary director posted the news on his Instagram Thursday morning, just over an hour after the festival’s official lineup announcement, which did not include “Highest 2 Lowest.”
Lee’s reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller “High and Low” starring Denzel Washington was not announced this morning “because of some last-minute information we were waiting for,” Fremaux told Variety. “I wanted to be cautious,” he continued, adding that the information he was eager to confirm was “the presence of Denzel Washington” at the festival.
“But I can tell you now: Spike Lee’s film ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ will be screened in the presence of Denzel Washington, who will be making his first time ever on Cannes’ red carpet!” Fremaux said.
The world premiere will take place May 19, which marks the anniversary of the presentation of “Do the Right Thing” at Cannes in 1989. “Spike loves celebrations,” Fremaux said. It turns out May 19 is also the 100th birthday of Malcom X, who Lee honored with his 1992 film starring Washington.
Fremaux revealed the Apple and A24 film follows the original storyline of Kurosawa’s’s “High and Low.” “It’s the story of a man at the height of his fortune: fate places him before a crucial choice that could call everything into question,” he said. “Tokyo has become New York, the 1960s the present day, and Denzel Washington takes on the role of Toshirō Mifune in his own way. It is also a great film about family.”
“Highest 2 Lowest” also stars Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice and ASAP Rocky (pictured above).
Lee is a longtime friend of the Cannes Film Festival. He presided over the jury in 2021 and gave the Palme d’Or to Julia Ducournau for “Titane.” Ducournau will be back this year with “Alpha” playing in competition.
Apple will also also be at the festival with “Bono’s Stories of Surrende,r” while A24 has Ari Aster’s “Eddington” in competition, among other films.
