In Spike Lee’s film Highest 2 Lowest, Denzel Washington and A$AP Rocky go toe-to-toe. 

A recent trailer teases Washington playing a music mogul whose son has been kidnapped and held for ransom, while A$AP Rocky lures the Oscar-winning actor into a game of cat and mouse around New York City.

The movie is a “reinterpretation” of the 1963 noir, High and Low, by director Akira Kurosawa.

The star-studded cast also includes Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson, and another rapper: Ice Spice.

Produced by A24, Escape Artists, Mandalay Pictures, and 40 Acres and a Mule, Highest 2 Lowest is garnering a lot of buzz, thanks to its high-octane performances.

A$AP Rocky’s acting career may be heating up as well. During an appearance on The Tonight Show, Lee sat down with host Jimmy Fallon to discuss the rapper’s acting chops.

“Yeah, don’t sleep on A$AP. In this film, Denzel and A$AP go toe-to-toe,” Lee said. “What’s interesting is, even before I got involved with this film, I always thought that A$AP looked like he could be Denzel’s son. There’s a big resemblance. So when you see it on the screen, it adds an element of father and son.”

Though Washington has publicly mentioned his career winding down, Lee — who has directed Washington in Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man — also shared that this will likely be the duo’s last project together.

“This is the fifth one we’ve done together,” the filmmaker said during the film’s premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival this week, per The Guardian. “It has been a blessing, this body of work between us, doing films that people love. And I think this is it. He’s been talking about retirement. But five films together: that’s good, they stand up.”

Washington has also been reportedly cast in the third Black Panther.

Highest 2 Lowest opens in theaters on August 15 and will arrive on Apple TV+ on September 5, according to Deadline.

Check out the trailer below: