Spike Lee Details Martin Scorsese's Reaction To His New Thriller Movie With Denzel Washington: "He Loved It"

Spike Lee has worked regularly in Hollywood since the mid-1980s, and he now has a number of iconic films under his belt. Lee is responsible for movies like She’s Gotta Have It (1986), Do the Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992), and Inside Man (2006). In more recent years, he’s showed no signs of slowing down, releasing movies like BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Da 5 Bloods (2020).

Martin Scorsese has been around for even longer, with his first feature film dating back to 1966. After putting himself on the map with Mean Streets in 1973, Scorsese cemented his position as a great American filmmaker with Taxi Driver in 1976. In the decades that followed, Scorsese released films like Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), The Departed (2006), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and 2023’s acclaimed Killers of the Flower Moon.

Martin Scorsese Praises Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest

Denzel Washington as Detective Keith Frazier Looking to His Left in Inside Man

Lee reveals that Scorsese has some high praise for Highest 2 Lowest. Serving as a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963), Lee’s upcoming film features frequent collaborator Denzel Washington in a starring role, with ASAP Rocky, Jeffrey Wright, and Ice Spice reportedly also starring. Though a logline for the remake hasn’t yet been released, the original High and Low told the story of a shoe company executive who becomes the victim of extortion after a bungled kidnapping scheme involving his chauffeur’s son.

As the wait continues for confirmation of the Highest 2 Lowest release date, Lee now takes to Instagram to reveal that he’s screened the film for Scorsese. The director shares that Scorsese had a very positive reaction to the movie, with Washington’s performance standing out as one of the highlights. Check out Lee’s post below, which features an image of him posing with Scorsese:

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Just Left The Office Of The GREAT MASTER FILMMAKER MARTIN SCORSESE. I Had The HONOR And PLEASURE Of Screening Da New Spike Lee Joint-HIGHEST 2 LOWEST For My Main MAN. Marty LO💜ED IT. He Gushed About Denzel’s Magnificent Acting Matty Libatique’s , Cinematography, Barry Brown’s Editing And My Direction. Marty Was So Happy For Me. We Have History, All The Way Back To When I Was At NYU GRAD FILM SCHOOL. The Poster Behind Us Is JOE’S BED-STUY BARBERSHOP-WE CUT HEADS, My Thesis Film Which Won A Student Academy Award. I Didn’t Even Know He Had It. Great Day Now If DA NEW YORK KNICKS Beat The Denver Nuggets U Can’t Tell Me SH-T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🤓

What Scorsese’s Praise Means For Highest 2 Lowest

Will The Film Be A Hit?

Denzel Washington from The Equalizer and Chadwick Boseman from Da 5 Bloods — Custom Image by Sam MacLennan

Highest 2 Lowest marks Lee’s feature film follow-up to Da 5 Bloods, which earned positive reviews from critics upon its release on Netflix 5 years ago. Not much has been revealed about Highest 2 Lowest, but the film has secured a theatrical run from A24 before it eventually heads to Apple TV+. It remains to be seen how the film will compare to Da 5 Bloods critically, but Scorsese’s reaction suggests it could end up competing with the 2020 movie’s 92% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Da 5 Bloods marked one of actor Chadwick Boseman’s last movies before his death in 2020 at the age of 43.

Scorsese’s reaction also bodes well for Highest 2 Lowest‘s box office chances. It’s not clear what the movie’s budget is, but it’s probably not especially high given A24’s involvement. How Highest 2 Lowest fares with audiences will be a key indicator of box office, and Scorsese’s early reaction suggests the movie is already on the right track.

Source: Spike Lee