*Spike Lee has said his decades-old collaboration with Denzel Washington on movie projects will likely end after their newest film hits the screens. That new movie is “Highest 2 Lowest.” It’s the duo’s fifth collaboration.
“It’s been a blessing to just have this body of work of us doing films that people love,” Lee said at a Cannes press conference promoting the newest film. “I don’t know if we’re going to do any [more] — I think this is it: five.”
Lee and Denzel Washington first worked together on the 1990 jazz dramedy “Mo’ Better Blues.” They teamed up again in 1992 for “Malcolm X,” a civil rights biopic. Washington received an Oscar nomination for this second work.
They again collaborated in 1998 when Lee directed Washington in the basketball drama “He Got Game.”
The pair met again ten years later, in 2006, to work on the heist-hostage thriller “Inside Man.” Their recent collaboration, “Highest 2 Lowest,” is a reenactment of Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1963 crime procedural “High and Low.”
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But Lee’s take that Washington is retiring soon is more a speculation than a statement of fact since the latter doesn’t show any signs of hanging up the boots anytime soon. While Washington has repeatedly talked about his imminent retirement, his actions quite contradict his retirement stance. He keeps signing deals.
Lee himself cast doubt on Washington’s retirement plan in the same breath he speculated this would be their last collaboration.
“He’s been talking about retirement — even though he just did another deal. I thought he’s going to retire! What’s up? But the five films together, you know, they stand up,” Spike added.
It’s safe to say that Washington’s claims to retire soon are just that: claims.
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— Hyconiq (@Hyconiqmag_) May 19, 2025
Last year, he said he plans to retire soon while promoting “Gladiator II.” But he later clarified he might not fully retire, but instead significantly reduce his film commitments and focus exclusively on working with top-tier filmmakers.
Speaking to BuzzFeed, Washington said, “I didn’t say I was going to go into retirement. I said that it has to be a level of interest for me.
He added: “I’m not retiring. It’s not like on June 5, that’s it. But to think I’m going to run as far as [Gladiator II costars Paul Mescal and Fred Hechinger] are, I’d be a fool.”
“Highest 2 Lowest” comes to a theater near you on August 22 before releasing on Apple TV+ September 5.
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