After earning an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, Jeffrey Wright has bagged his next project, starring alongside Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington. Apple Original Films and A24 announced Tuesday that Wright is joining Denzel Washington in director Spike Lee‘s next film, High and Low. The film will get a theatrical release before its global launch on Apple TV+.
Directed by Lee, the upcoming film is the English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller masterpiece High and Low. The 1963 film stars Toshiro Mifune as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy man who puts himself into debt in a risky bid to enact a hostile takeover of National Shoes, and Tatsuya Nakadai as Inspector Tokura, the man charged with solving a kidnapping case. The tale is loosely based on the 1959 novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter).
Everything About Jeffrey Wright’s Upcoming Film with Denzel Washington
The Lee’s version of High and Low is developed and produced by A24, Escape Artists, and Mandalay Pictures, and written by Alan Fox and Lee. The film marks the second collaboration between Apple Original Films and Washington following the acclaimed film The Tragedy of Macbeth, also from A24. For the 2021 film, Washington earned his 10th best actor Oscar nomination.
The film will mark the reunion of Washington and Lee for the fifth time. The duo last worked together on their 2006 critical and box office hit, Inside Man. Their other collaboration includes Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, and He Got Game. The film’s production commences this month. Apart from Washington and Wright, the high-profile cast of High and Low also includes Ilfenesh Hadera. The 38-year-old actress is a frequent collaborator with Lee and has appeared in films like Da Brick, The Blacklist, Oldboy, Show Me a Hero, Chi-Raq, Chicago Fire, The Punisher, and She’s Gotta Have It.
Considering Lee’s previous work in the crime genre, it can be said that the upcoming crime-thriller film High and Low is in the right hands. With a resume including films like Malcolm X (1992), Crooklyn (1994), Clockers (1995), 25th Hour (2002), and more, and honors including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Peabody Awards, it’s certain that if Lee is helming the camera, he would give his best to give justice to the original film.
Although the roles of the aforementioned actors have not yet been disclosed, the involvement of the talented star cast is more than enough to increase the hype of the film.
Wright earned the Oscars nomination for his performance as “Thelonius ‘Monk’ Ellison in” Amazon MGM Studios’ satirical dramedy American Fiction — which was also nominated for best picture and won director Cord Jefferson an Oscar for best-adapted screenplay. The film earned Wright numerous Best Actor nominations on the awards circuit. It also landed him an Independent Spirit Award.
High and Low release date is yet to be announced.
