Spike Lee has taken the announcement that his new film “Highest 2 Lowest” will premiere at Cannes Film Festival into his own hands.
Just over an hour after the festival revealed its lineup — which did not include “Highest 2 Lowest” — the legendary director took to Instagram to break the news himself.
“Bon Jour. Good Morning. Whaddup❓Da New SPIKE LEE JOINT-HIGHEST 2 LOWEST Starring My Brother DENZEL WASHINGTON Has Been Invited To Da 2025 CANNES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (In The Out Of Competition Category),” Lee wrote under a photo of a patch that says “Highest 2 Lowest 2 Cannes.”
Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” — a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller “High and Low” starring Denzel Washington and hailing from Apple Original Films and A24 — was highly expected to be announced on Thursday morning as part of Cannes’ lineup. However, every year there are a few films that are revealed later in the run-up to the fest.
In a humorous moment during Thursday morning’s presser, Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux said that someone was texting him to say he had forgotten a film — perhaps it could have been Lee. Variety has reached out to Cannes Film Festival, A24 and Apple for comment.
It’s not the first time the celebrated director has jumped the gun in terms of announcements. At Cannes in 2021, when Lee served as jury president, he accidentally read out the name of the Palme d’Or winner — “Titane” — at the start of the awards ceremony rather than the end, leading to confusion and, ultimately, a rather less suspenseful finale.
“I have no excuses, I messed up,” he said at the press conference afterwards. “I’m a big sports fan. It’s like the guy at the end of the game in the foul line, he misses the free throw, or a guy misses a kick.” As it happens, “Titane” director Julia Ducournau will also be attendance again this year with her follow up “Alpha.”
Lee joins a stacked lineup for this year’s Cannes, which includes films from Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, Ari Aster and Kelly Reichardt in competition. Though Lee said “Highest 2 Lowest” is premiering out of competition, meaning it won’t be eligible for the prestigious Palme d’Or, it’s in good company in the section alongside Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and Rebecca Zlotowski’s “Vie Privée” starring Jodie Foster.
“Highest 2 Lowest” also stars Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice and ASAP Rocky. Plot details have been kept under wraps, but like Kurosawa’s “High and Low” it’s loosely based on Ed McBain’s 1959 novel “King’s Ransom,” which follows a wealthy man forced to choose between achieving a personal ambition or saving the life of a kidnapped child.
Alex Ritman contributed to this report.
