One of the greatest actors of the 21st century, Denzel Washington first captured attention in the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere (1982–1988) and the war movie A Soldier’s Story (1984). His talent soon translated into Academy Awards, winning Best Supporting Actor for playing a Civil War soldier in Glory (1989) and Best Actor for a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller Training Day (2001).

Washington also received Oscar nominations for performances in Cry Freedom (1987), Malcolm X (1992), The Hurricane (1999), Flight (2012), Fences (2016), Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), and delivered more riveting performances in The Pelican Brief, Philadelphia (both 1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Remember the тιтans (2000), Man on Fire (2004), Déjà Vu (2006), American Gangster (2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023).

Washington is also known for his several collaborations with director Spike Lee, which include Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992), He Got Game (1998), and Inside Man (2006). Today, Washington remains as relevant as ever, with the release of Gladiator II in 2024 and now, his latest film becoming an instant streaming hit.

Highest 2 Lowest Becomes An Instant Streaming Hit

Highest 2 Lowest has become an instant streaming hit. Directed by Spike Lee as a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low (1963), which itself was based on the 1959 novel King’s Ransom, the new crime thriller stars Denzel Washington as a powerful music mogul who becomes the target of a ransom scheme and finds himself in an impossible moral dilemma.

Denzel Washington leads the cast in his fifth collaboration with Spike Lee alongside Oscar nominee Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction), Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, Ice Spice, Frederick Weller, Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson, LaChanze, Aubrey Joseph, Michael Potts, Princess Nokia, Wendell Pierce, and Andy McQueen. Appearing as themselves are Rick Fox, Rod Strickland, Don Lemon, Eddie Palmieri, Anthony Ramos, and Rosie Perez.

Immediately after its release on September 5, Highest 2 Lowest ranks first on Apple TV’s Top 10 movies in the United States for today. It ranks above The Gorge, The Fountain of Youth, Greyhound, Echo Valley, Wolfs, The Family Plan, Killers of the Flower Moon, Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, and Ghosted.

Our Take On Highest 2 Lowest’s Streaming Success

With only a limited theatrical release from A24, Highest 2 Lowest never had a fair chance to succeed, making only $1.5 million at the box office. However, with a big name like Denzel Washington, it is much better suited for success on streaming. Washington always delivers in his collaborations with Spike Lee, this time remixing a classic Kurosawa film into an unforgettable thrill ride.