Highest 2 Lowest Is Denzel Washington’s Last Movie With Spike Lee

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In a recent chat, the esteemed director Spike Lee revealed that their latest film marked the culmination of their creative partnership with Denzel Washington. Interestingly, this isn’t their first collaboration; they had previously worked together in four other productions: Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992), He Got Game (1998), and Inside Man (2006).

Spike Lee says Highest 2 Lowest is Denzel Washington’s last movie with him

At the premiere of “Highest 2 Lowest,” Spike Lee announced that this was their last movie with Denzel Washington, marking their fifth collaboration as a duo. The renowned director expressed his feelings about working with Washington by saying, “This is our fifth project we’ve tackled together.

Working on these films with you has truly been a blessing, creating projects that the audience cherishes. It seems like he’s considering retirement, but completing five movies together is something special, they hold their ground.”

(via A Friendly AI)

Significantly, at the age of 70, Washington has been discussing retirement for quite some time now. In an interview with The Today Show in November 2024, he expressed his plans to retire once he finishes several forthcoming assignments, such as Black Panther 3 and a film adaptation of Othello.

Together, Lee and Washington have brought to life some unforgettable film characters. In “Mo’ Better Blues,” Washington takes on the role of Bleek Gilliam, a made-up jazz trumpeter who experiences a downward spiral as a result of poor choices.

In a different phrasing, here’s how it could read: Denzel Washington portrayed the title character in Malcolm X, a performance that director Spike Lee believes deserved an Oscar for Best Actor. According to Lee, at Cannes he stated, “What he accomplished with that film was incredible.” He added, “I have great admiration for my fellow actor Al Pacino, but I personally think Denzel should have taken home the award.

In addition, Washington played Jake Shuttlesworth, a prisoner seeking early release, in He Got Game and Detective Keith Frazier in Inside Man. This two-time Academy Award winner portrays David King in the neo-noir crime thriller Highest Tension, Lowest Complicity. Its summary is, “When a renowned music tycoon, known for having ‘the best ears in the business,’ becomes a target of a ransom plot, he finds himself in a life-or-death moral quandary.

The movie premieres in US theaters on August 22, 2025, and on Apple TV+ on September 5, 2025.

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2025-05-21 16:10