Highest 2 Lowest‘s surprisingly limited theatrical release gets an honest response from collaborators Denzel Washington and Spike Lee. Serving as Lee’s follow-up to Da 5 Bloods (2020), the new film is an updated remake of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963).

Washington leads the thriller’s cast as David King, a music mogul who is targeted in a ransom plot, with A$AP Rocky and Jeffrey Wright also starring. An Apple Original movie, Highest 2 Lowest releases in select theaters on August 15 through A24, with plans for the film to stream on AppleTV+ on September 5.

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Washington and Lee get candid about Apple’s release strategy for Highest 2 Lowest, admitting that limited theater play before the streaming release was really the only option available for the movie. Checkout Washington’s comment below:

“That’s the nature of the business now—they also gave us a lot of money to make the film. The industry has changed. Time has changed. So we’ve got to change with the times.”

Lee then adds his own thoughts, confirming that Apple was integral to the movie happening at all, with the pair explaining that it was a business decision:

Lee: “This film would not have been made without Apple. That’s just the truth. We’d done this four times already, and the last time was a great box office success. Not to say that all success is built upon box office, but—”

Washington: “But it is called show business. No business, no show. No business, no next show.”

Lee: “That’s true. We understand the ramifications of this business.”

Finally, Washington speaks briefly about his decision to reunite with Lee after four previous collaborations, explaining that the “trust” between them is crucial:

“It’s trust. There was only one person to do this. And I’m sitting next to him.”

What This Means For Highest 2 Lowest

Lee’s previous movie, the acclaimed Da 5 Bloods, was a straight-to-streaming Netflix release. Even if it had gotten some theater play, it likely would have been limited to a relatively small number of theaters for not more than two weeks, given Netflix’s release strategy history.

Lee primarily makes mid-budget, adult-skewing movies, a genre that has struggled in theaters in recent years. As he and Washington suggest above, taking the deal from Apple was likely the only way they were going to be able to make Highest 2 Lowest, at least at the budget they wanted.

A limited theatrical release, of course, means Highest 2 Lowest won’t be making a big splash at the box office. Theatrical play is often said to be a major factor in terms of a movie’s ability to make a cultural impact, and the new Lee movie will now have only about two weeks to do that, and in a limited number of theaters.

Most of the people that watch Highest 2 Lowest will be doing so on AppleTV+. Compared to Netflix, though, the AppleTV+ subscriber base is relatively modest, meaning, in terms of raw views, fewer people will probably watch this film than Da 5 Bloods.

Still, with F1: The Movie poised for a streaming release in the next month or two, AppleTV+ could experience an influx of subscribers that could boost the Lee film’s exposure.

Our Take On Highest 2 Lowest’s Release Strategy

It’s unclear how Highest 2 Lowest would have performed in theaters had it been given a wide theatrical rollout. The genre suggests it might struggle, but Washington, as has been seen with the reliably successful Equalizer movies, remains an audience draw under the right circumstances.

In any case, it’s worth celebrating that the new film is getting any theater play at all, as this will undoubtedly be the best way to experience his new collaboration with Washington. It remains to be seen how audiences will respond to Highest 2 Lowest, but those looking to see it in theaters evidently only have limited time to do so.