Spike Lee, Denzel Washington reuniting for adaptation of Kurosawa’s ‘High and Low’

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 20 years after their last collaboration, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington are reuniting for an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low.”

Apple Original Films announced Thursday that it is co-financing the film, which A24 will release theatrically before it streams on Apple TV+. It marks Lee and Washington’s first film together since 2006’s “Inside Man.” Their previous films include “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Malcolm X” and “He Got Game.”

Kurosawa’s “High and Low,” released in 1963 and starring Toshiro Mifune, was adapted from the Ed McBain novel “King’s Ransom.” The film, a potent thriller rich in class commentary, follows a wealthy industrialist targeted by kidnappers.

Filming starts in March.