Key Takeaways
- Spike Lee and Denzel Washington’s fifth film, Highest 2 Lowest, draws inspiration from an Akira Kurosawa classic.
- Lee highlights how their creative bond is rooted in mutual trust and family ties.
- Their decades-long collaboration has produced a body of work that continues to resonate with audiences.
Spike Lee is opening up about his decades-long bond with Denzel Washington, and it’s rooted more deeply than just their Hollywood ties.
At the 2025 Wall Street Journal Magazine Innovator Awards, the legendary filmmaker spoke to PEOPLE about the foundation of his friendship with the Oscar-winning actor, saying, “[Denzel] and I, our relationship is based upon love and trust, trust and love.”
The pair first worked together on Mo’ Better Blues in 1990 and have spent more than three decades shaping culture through art. Over the years, Lee says their bond has extended beyond film sets to their families, describing how close they’ve all become.
They’ve also delivered other classics like Malcolm X, He Got Game, Inside Man, and most recently, Highest 2 Lowest, which hit theaters in August. “The five films together, you know, they stand up. Malcolm X, I mean, what he did with that film, it’s amazing,” Lee said. “It’s been a blessing to have this body of work of us doing films that the people love -- so it’s a blessing, again.”
During an exclusive interview with REVOLT, Washington reflected on where he is in life right now, saying, “Figuring out what the future is. Been talking about retirement... I don’t know if that’s where God has been leading me, but it feels like he’s been telling me, ‘I got you where I want you.’” But, Lee told PEOPLE that Washington “has been talking about retirement, even though he just did another deal.” That update gives fans hope the two could join forces on another project down the line.
Spike Lee and Denzel Washington’s latest collaboration, ‘Highest 2 Lowest’
Nearly 20 years after their last film together, the pair reunited for Highest 2 Lowest, a modern reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. The updated thriller follows a wealthy businessman whose family becomes entangled in a kidnapping that exposes the stark divide between privilege and poverty. Washington stars alongside Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, A$AP Rocky, Elijah Wright, and more, as Lee uses the story to examine modern inequality and corporate greed.