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Spike Lee is reflecting on the impact that Jim Jarmusch’s “Stranger Than Paradise” had on his own film career. Lee said during the Criterion Channel’s “Adventures in Moviegoing” that he admired fellow auteur Jarmusch while the duo were both at the Tisch grad school for film.

When asked by host Sheril Antonio, the New York University Tisch School of the Arts’ Senior Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives, which directors most influenced his filmmaking while he was in school there, Lee said, “The first has got to be Jim Jarmusch. He was two years ahead of me [in grad school]. I worked in the equipment room, so I checked out the equipment. I mean, Jim’s hair was white even back then! So when ‘Stranger Than Paradise’ hit [in 1984], that was like a revelation to everybody. He still is our hero.”

It was only two years later when Lee had his own directorial...

For many years after the 1955 film Marty won the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or and then went on to win the best picture Oscar, there was little additional evidence of a Cannes/Oscars connection. But in the last five years, both Parasite and — just months ago — Anora followed in Marty’s footsteps.

Indeed, within the last year, specifically, the relevance of one event to the other became harder than ever to dispute, as an unprecedented 31 Oscar noms were allocated to films that had played in Cannes — spread between Anora, The Apprentice, Emilia Pérez, Flow, The Girl with the Needle, The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, The Seed of the Sacred Fig and The Substance — and 40 percent of the eventual Oscar winners traced back to the fest, including Anora (best picture, director, actress, original screenplay and film editing), Emilia Pérez (original song), Flow (animated feature) and The Substance...

The jury for the Cannes Un Certain Regard program has been announced, with “How to Have Sex” director Molly Manning Walker as the president.

The 2025 Un Certain Regard jury includes French-Swiss director and screenwriter Louise Courvoisier; Vanja Kaludjercic, Croatian director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam; Italian director, producer, and screenwriter Roberto Minervini; and Argentinian actor Nahuel Pérez Biscayart. The jury will award prizes for the section, which showcases first- and second-time filmmakers of promise. The Un Certain Regard program will open with Tunisian director Erige Sehiri’s “Promised Sky” on Wednesday, May 14.

This year, a total of 20 films have been selected for Un Certain Regard, including nine first films, such as Harris Dickinson’s “Urchin,” Scarlett Johansson’s “Eleanor the Great,” and Kristen Stewart’s “The Chronology of Water.”

Un Certain Regard Jury President Walker previously won the 2023 Un Certain Regard Prize for her directorial debut “How to Have Sex.

The Cannes Film Festival has put together a powerful jury for its 78th edition, including Halle Berry, Jeremy Strong (“The Apprentice”) and Payal Kapadia, the Indian filmmaker of “All We Imagine as Light.”

Mixing actors, filmmakers and authors, the jury will also comprise of South Korean filmmaker Hong Sangsoo, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, French-Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani, as well as Congolese director, documentarist and producer Dieudo Hamadi, as well as Mexican filmmaker and producer Carlos Reygadas. As previously announced, Juliette Binoche will preside over the jury, succeeding Greta Gerwig who handed out the Palme d’Or to Sean Baker’s “Anora.”

Both Strong and Kapadia were at Cannes last year, in competition. Strong presented Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice” in which he starred as Roy Cohn, while Kapadia was there with her fiction debut, “All We Imagine as Light” which won the Grand Prize.

Berry became the first African-American woman...

The 2025 Cannes Film Festival main competition jury was revealed Monday morning, all of whom will look at 21 films vying for the Palme d’Or.

The jury’s mix of talent from above and below the line includes: American actress and filmmaker Halle Berry, Indian director and screenwriter Payal Kapadia, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, French/Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani, plus Congolese director and producer Dieudo Hamadi, Korean director and screenwriter Hong Sangsoo, Mexican director/screenwriter/producer Carlos Reygadas, and American actor Jeremy Strong.

As previously announced, the main competition jury president will be Juliette Binoche. The jury will oversee the selection of the Palme d’Or and other competition prizes. Neon has released the past six consecutive Palme d’Or winners, with Sean Baker’s 2024 film “Anora” going on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The 2025 Cannes Film Festival will take place from May 13 to 24. Amélie Bonnin’s directorial...

When Thierry Frémaux announced the initial slate for the 78th Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, there were several rumored filmmakers who, quizzically, weren’t part of the reveal. One filmmaker, Spike Lee, saw his passion project “Highest 2 Lowest” added within hours after star Denzel Washington committed to appear on La Croisette. Two of the other most buzzed about additions occurred today, as Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut, “The Chronology of Water,” and a highly anticipated new Lynne Ramsay film, “Die My Love,” were formally invited to the festival.

Continue reading Cannes 2025: New Films From Lynne Ramsay, Kristen Stewart & Ethan Coen Added To The Festival at The Playlist.

As is tradition, the Cannes Film Festival has announced late-breaking additions to its 2025 festival lineup, with new films coming from Lynne Ramsay, and Saeed Roustayi.

The 78th edition will now include Ramsay’s “Die, My Love,” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, in the competition. All the Scottish director’s previous films have premiered at Cannes; the dark martial comedy/horror is her first film since 2017’s “You Were Never Really Here” won the Cannes Best Screenplay prize. Here, Jennifer Lawrence plays a wife unraveling in the country, and married to Pattinson’s character. Lakeith Stanfield, Nick Nolte, and Sissy Spacek also star in this adaptation of Ariana Harwicz’s novel. Ramsay wrote the script with Enda Walsh and Alice Birch.

The film made it into Cannes just in time as hoped, and this means we’ll be seeing Lawrence and Pattinson standing in front of glittering flash bulbs on the Palais red carpet.

The Cannes Film Festival has added several titles to the official selection, including Lynne Ramsay’s “Die, My Love,” a thriller starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson, as well as Kristen Stewart’s “The Chronology of Water” in Un Certain Regard and Ethan Coen’s “Honey Don’t!” in the midnights section.

Other additions to the official selection are Saeed Roustaee’s “Woman and Child” in competition; Anna Cazenave Cambet’s “Love Me Tender,” Simón Mesa Soto’s “Un Poeta” and Pedro Pinho’s “O Riso E A Faca (Le Rire et le Couteau”) in Un Certain Regard; “Kōji Fukada’s “Renai Saiban,” Hlynur Pálmason’s “Ástin Sem Eftir Er,” Lav Diaz’s “Magalhães” in premiere; and Vincent Maël Cardona’s “Le Roi Soleil” in midnights.

“Die, My Love” was screened for the Cannes committee after the festival’s official press conference on April 10, during which chief Thierry Fremaux unveiled the lineup.

Spike Lee cast A$AP Rocky in his new movie after seeing a meme on Instagram which compared him to Denzel Washington.The director hired the rapper to star in his new film 'Highest 2 Lowest' alongside the Oscar-winning actor and he's revealed he initially thought about the music star for the role after seeing social media posts which joked he could be Washington's son.Lee told the '7Pm in Brooklyn' podcast: "What’s funny is that I was looking at Instagram four or five years ago and people were saying that A$AP looked like he’s Denzel’s son. I seen those memes and then in the film we used that."A$AP, man, he fire,. I mean, there’s some scenes where him and D [Washington} head to head – he ain’t backing up. Like: 'I’m here too.' So very, very happy with the way the film turned out and looking forward to sharing it with the world."A$AP Rocky made his screen debut in 2015 film 'Dope' and was recently seen in 'If I Had Legs I’d Kick You', which hit cinemas in January.

While follower counts have been known to aid casting decisions in today’s Hollywood, Spike Lee is turning to the memes.

Ahead of his A24 film Highest 2 Lowest‘s Cannes premiere next month, the Oscar winner revealed he cast A$AP Rocky in the feature after seeing a meme comparing the Grammy-nominated artist to his co-star Denzel Washington.

“What’s funny is that I was looking at Instagram four or five years ago and people were saying that A$AP looked like he’s Denzel’s son,” he recalled on the 7Pm in Brooklyn podcast. “I seen those memes and then in the film we used that.”

Rocky’s upcoming role alongside Washington and Ice Spice comes after he made his on-screen debut in 2015’s Dope and most recently starred in A24’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.

“A$AP, man, he fire,” Lee praised him. “I mean,...

Turns out Spike Lee is looking anywhere and everywhere for inspiration…including your memes. The auteur said during Carmelo Anthony’s Wave Original “7Pm in Brooklyn” podcast that he cast rapper/musician A$AP Rocky in feature “Highest 2 Lowest” after people online drew a comparison between A$AP and Lee’s frequent collaborator Denzel Washington.

According to Lee, he thought of A$AP to then play Washington’s onscreen son in the reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low.”

“What’s funny is that I was looking at Instagram four or five years ago and people were saying that A$AP looked like he’s Denzel’s son,” Lee said. “I seen those memes and then in the film we used that.”

The first look of “Highest 2 Lowest” has lead actor A$AP in a prison jumpsuit. A$AP stars as Yung Felon, the lead character in the film,...

The Cannes Film Festival 2025 line-up reveals the films that likely will be chatted about long through the year. Here’s what’s showing.

Cannes Film Festival has published its official line-up for this year’s event, and we get our first hint at the films that are set to be part of the awards conversation for the coming months. The festival will be screening several interesting films, including the directorial debuts of Scarlett Johansson and Harris Dickinson in the new filmmaker category.

Screening out of competition will be Spike Lee’s latest offering, Highest 2 Lowest, and Tom Cruise and company are taking Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning to the festival too. This has proved to be a public relations misstep in the past (remember Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny?) but with Mission releasing so soon after the festival, this seems like a savvy move to us.

Spike Lee and Denzel Washington's newest collaboration, Highest 2 Lowest, gives fans a first sneak peek of what to expect from the upcoming remake. A new image from the anticipated thriller offers a look at Washington's character as the film secures a major festival release before its theatrical debut.

Per Variety, a preview image from Highest 2 Lowest shows Washington in a sweater and baseball cap riding the subway. The first-look image comes with confirmation that the A24 blockbuster will debut out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival next month, with Washington set to attend the annual event. The reunion with Lee continues a 35-year career trend, marking the fifth collaboration between the actor and filmmaker.

Highest 2 Lowest is an English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 crime thriller, High and Low, which chronicles a shoe company executive who's extorted as part of an abduction gone wrong.

A new image from Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest, a remake of Akira Kurosawa's classic crime thriller High and Low, offers a first look at Denzel Washington's character. He is pictured on the subway, wearing a hooded jacket, a New York Yankees cap, and sunglasses. It was previously revealed that Washington would be playing a new version of Toshiro Mifune's character, Kingo Gondo, from the 1963 Japanese movie. However, instead of being a shoemaker, he will play "a music mogul with his own label and his reputation as the best ears in the business."

The latest look at Highest 2 Lowest (shared below) comes shortly after Lee shared a snap of the movie's lead actor, A$AP Rocky, in what appeared to be an orange prison jumpsuit. It's unclear exactly what character Rocky plays, though his name has been identified as Yung Felon, which is fitting since he looks...

For the second time in six years — and only the fourth in its 78-year history — the movie that cinched the Palme d’Or at Cannes went on to win best picture at the Oscars.

When it happened to “Parasite,” it was easy to look on that as a fluke. Not since “No Country for Old Men” (another film launched at Cannes) had a genre film earned the Academy’s top prize. And of course, no South Korean movie had ever won (or even so much as been nominated) for best picture before.

But the triumph of “Anora” this year suggests a possible pattern … or perhaps, the inevitable result of a concerted effort by the Academy to diversify and globalize its membership (a move that inevitably benefits international and non-English-language cinema at the Oscars). Either way, the celebrated film festival — which takes place every May along France’s Côte d’Azur...

It wasn’t wishful thinking — Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” will officially premiere out of competition at Cannes Film Festival, artistic director Thierry Fremaux has confirmed to Variety.

The legendary director posted the news on his Instagram Thursday morning, just over an hour after the festival’s official lineup announcement, which did not include “Highest 2 Lowest.”

Lee’s reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller “High and Low” starring Denzel Washington was not announced this morning “because of some last-minute information we were waiting for,” Fremaux told Variety. “I wanted to be cautious,” he continued, adding that the information he was eager to confirm was “the presence of Denzel Washington” at the festival.

“But I can tell you now: Spike Lee’s film ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ will be screened in the presence of Denzel Washington, who will be making his first time ever on Cannes’ red carpet!” Fremaux said.

It could have been an email, but the Cannes Film Festival revealed its 2025 lineup on Thursday with an hour-long press conference that unofficially kicked off the 2026 Oscar race. Multiple presumed future awards contenders will premiere at Cannes this year, including new films from Wes Anderson, Ari Aster, Julia Ducournau, Oliver Hermanus, Scarlett Johansson, Spike Lee (probably; more on that below), Richard Linklater, Kelly Reichardt, and Joachim Trier. Ahead are the three burning questions about this year’s lineup that could impact next year’s Oscars.

Will Neon win its sixth straight Palme d’Or?

Since 2019, Neon has won the Palme d’Or five consecutive times: Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall, and Anora. (Cannes was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.) It’s an unprecedented run, and it has a good shot to continue this year, as the studio has two buzzy titles in the competition lineup: Alpha,...

Spike Lee has said his upcoming feature Highest 2 Lowest will premiere Out of Competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24).

The crime drama, which stars Denzel Washington, was not announced during the press conference earlier today (April 10), but Lee confirmed the news on his Instagram shortly after.

“Bon Jour. Good Morning. Whaddup? Da New Spike Lee Joint-highest 2 Lowest Starring My Brother Denzel Washington Has Been Invited To Da 2025 Cannes International Film Festival(In The Out Of Competition Category)”, the caption read.

Highest 2 Lowest is an adaptation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller. A24 is producing alongside Escape Artists and Mandalay Pictures.

Spike Lee‘s new film, Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington will premiere out of competition in Cannes, the festival has confirmed.

Lee’s new movie, an English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 Japanese crime classic High and Low, was not part of the official lineup announced by Cannes delegate general Thierry Frémaux and president Iris Knobloch at a press conference in Paris on Thursday morning.

But just an hour after the presser, Lee broke the news himself on Instagram: “Bon Jour. Good Morning. Whaddup ? Da New Spike Lee Joint-highest 2 Lowest Starring My Brother Denzel Washington Has Been Invited To Da 2025 Cannes International Film Festival (In The Out Of Competition Category),” Lee wrote with an embroidered article that reads “Highest 2 Lowest 2 Cannes.”

The feature stars Denzel Washington, Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice and A$AP Rocky and is set to get a theatrical release with A24 before it airs...

Spike Lee has taken the announcement that his new film “Highest 2 Lowest” will premiere at Cannes Film Festival into his own hands.

Just over an hour after the festival revealed its lineup — which did not include “Highest 2 Lowest” — the legendary director took to Instagram to break the news himself.

“Bon Jour. Good Morning. Whaddup❓Da New Spike Lee Joint-Highest 2 Lowest Starring My Brother Denzel Washington Has Been Invited To Da 2025 Cannes International Film Festival (In The Out Of Competition Category),” Lee wrote under a photo of a patch that says “Highest 2 Lowest 2 Cannes.”

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A post shared by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee)

Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” — a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller “High and Low” starring Denzel Washington and hailing from Apple Original Films and A24 — was highly expected to be announced on Thursday morning as part of Cannes’ lineup.

Updated, 8:11 a.m.: Spike Lee has shared on Instagram that his latest film, “Highest 2 Lowest,” will premiere out of competition in Cannes, though the film was not included in the festival’s Thursday lineup announcement. IndieWire understands the festival was waiting to confirm Denzel Washington’s attendance, and indeed the star will be at Cannes.

Earlier: Predicting the Cannes Film Festival lineup is always a tricky feat. Some films you’d expect to see on the Croisette — and we expected many that didn’t make the cut Thursday morning — either aren’t ready or decided to go the way of the fall festivals.

Or worse, Thierry Frémaux and his team just didn’t go for them. The festival programmers looked at a record 2,909 feature submissions this year, spreading out selections across the main competition, Un Certain Regard, and the non-competitive sections. More official selection films will be announced,...

Updated April 23: The original April 10 Cannes announcement has been updated to reflect new additions to the lineup.

Updated 10:40 a.m. Et: Cannes has now confirmed that Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest” will play out of competition at Cannes. The film was omitted from Thursday morning’s announcement, though Lee shared on Instagram afterward that “Highest 2 Lowest” would be heading to Cannes. We’ve now included the film below.

Earlier: The 2025 Cannes Film Festival lineup was revealed bright and early, starting at 5 a.m. Et on Thursday, April 10 for those following in the States. For those in France, festival director Thierry Frémaux and president Iris Knobloch unveiled this year’s crop of films from the main competition to Un Certain Regard and beyond at the more reasonable hour of 11 a.m. local time. IndieWire previously named 33 films we hope to see among the 78th edition’s sections; we got some right,...

New films from Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater and the Dardenne brothers will premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Cannes organizers announced at a press conference in Paris on Thursday.

Anderson will be back in Cannes with “The Phoenician Scheme,” which premiered a baffling trailer at CinemaCon last week. Linklater is heading to France with a bold movie, “Nouvelle Vague,” which tackles the sacred ground of Jean-Luc Godard and the filming of “Breathless” in the 1960s. The Dardenne brothers have “Young Mothers,” which gives them a chance to become the first filmmakers to win the Palme d’Or three times.

Actors in the festival making their directorial debuts include Scarlett Johansson, who is in Un Certain Regard with “Eleanor the Great,” starring Joan Squibb; and Harris Dickinson, the star of the Palme d’Or winner “The Triangle of Sadness,” with “Urchin.”

The main competition will include a number of...

Ahead of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, taking place May 13 to 24, the lineup has now been unveiled. Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, have revealed the slate this morning.

Highlights include Ari Aster’s Eddington, Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind, Joachim Trier’s Sentimal Value, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent, Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, Julia Ducournau’s Alpha, Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident, Carla Simon’s Romeria, and more. In other sections we have Rebecca Zlotowski’s Vie Privée, the directorial debuts of Scarlett Johansson and Harris Dickinson, Michael Angelo Covino’s Splitsville, Sebastián Lelio’s The Wave, Sylvain Chomet’s The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol, and more.

See below.

In Competition

After (Oliver Laxe)

Alpha (Julia Ducournau)

The Eagles of the Republic (Tarik Saleh)

Eddington (Ari Aster)

Dossier 137 (Dominik Moll...

The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival is looking to be another knockout, with some of this year’s hottest features, including Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague and Ari Aster’s Eddington set to premiere on the Croisette.

Cannes delegate general Thierry Frémaux and president Iris Knobloch announced this year’s lineup at a press conference in Paris on Thursday morning.

The 2025 competition lineup is packed with auteur heavyweights, including Kelly Reichardt, who returns to Cannes competition with The Mastermind, an art-heist drama starring Josh O’Connor and John Magaro, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War; Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, who returns to the Croisette after his 2021 triumph (with The Worst Person of the World) with Sentimental Value, also featuring Renate Reinsve; and dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who will be back in Cannes competition with his latest drama, A Simple Accident.

Movies from Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, Ari Aster, Julia Ducournau, Kelly Reichardt and more will compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The 2025 edition is shaping up to be a glamorous one with a large Hollywood presence — and of course, lots of stars. Earlier this week, it was officially announced that Tom Cruise will be back on the Croisette with “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning,” which is debuting out of competition. Other big names likely to be in attendance include Jodie Foster, who stars in Rebecca Zlotowski’s out-of-competition crime comedy “Vie Privée”; Josh O’Connor, who is leading two films in competition with Kelly Reichardt’s heist movie “The Mastermind” and Oliver Hermanus’ gay romance “The History of Sound” alongside Paul Mescal; Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Pedro Pascal and Austin Butler, who feature in Aster’s A24 competition film “Eddington”; and the...

It’s table stakes at this point to recognize that a significant portion of the eventual Best Picture field will launch at the Cannes Film Festival. Six of the 20 Best Picture nominees premiered on the French Riviera in the last two years. Last year’s Palme d’Or winner Anora became only the third Cannes champion to take the top award — but the second in five years after Parasite pulled off the gambit in 2020. (The only previous Palme d’Or champion to win Best Picture was 1955’s Marty.) That has made Cannes a significant step in awards season, despite its spring calendar placement — and with the Academy increasing its international membership annually, the importance of Cannes will only continue to grow.

So, which of this year’s potential premieres will carry through to next year’s Oscars ceremony? Ahead are the nine movies we hope make the cut when the...

Batter up, Darren Aronofsky is back with a fast-paced thriller that swings for the fences. Aronofsky took the stage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas during Sony’s presentation to premiere the first look at the trailer for his latest film, “Caught Stealing.”

“Caught Stealing” sees the filmmaker harken back to his earlier work after a series of smaller, more downbeat offerings such as “Mother!” and “The Whale.” The ’90s-set, NYC crime story stars Austin Butler as a former baseball player who gets caught up in a treasure hunt that sees him pitted against cops, mobsters, and hitmen.

Aronofsky described the project as something that took him back to what it felt like making a movie in the ’90s when he was making “Pi,” but he made this project because it was “something different” and was “simply put, a lot of fun.”

The first look at the trailer certainly was one...

Denzel Washington is clarifying what kind of actor he identifies as. The Oscar winner, who is currently starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in Broadway’s “Othello,” said during the “Sunday Morning” show that he does not think of himself as a film star; instead, he is a “stage actor who does film.”

And it’s not that Washington has swapped Hollywood for Broadway, either: The actor pointed to the elusive intangibility of the term itself. “What’s the definition of a Hollywood actor? Myself, I’m from Mt. Vernon. I’m a Mt. Vernon actor,” Washington said. “I don’t know what ‘Hollywood’ means. I know it’s a place.”

When “Sunday Morning” host Bill Whitaker used “film actor” to instead define what it means to be a Hollywood star, Washington then corrected him. “I’m a stage actor who does film. It’s not the other way around,” Washington said.

According to a report published today in The Information, Apple TV+, the media streaming service created by the tech giant in 2019, is posting an annual $1 billion loss. While streamer start-ups are expected to struggle at first as they build up their subscriber base and original programming library, they should be headed toward something approaching profitability six years in. For instance, Comcast's Peacock, which launched in 2020, went from losing $2.5 billion in 2022 to $372 million in 2024. That's still a load of red ink, but at least they're losing money in the right direction.

So why is Apple TV+ still hemorrhaging so much cash despite being home to such popular and/or celebrated series as "Severance," "Ted Lasso," "The Morning Show," and "Shrinking?" And why isn't Apple freaking out over it?

It's a bit of a mystery, actually, and it should be a sad commentary on the state of the entertainment industry that...

What’s going to be this year’s “Anora”? As the Cannes Film Festival rapidly approaches, that’s the question for artistic director Thierry Fremaux and movie buffs around the world.

A month before Cannes Film Festival’s press conference, the official selection is still very much a work in progress, with little reliable information filtering through about which movies have already been invited. In fact, as of Friday — despite the volume of splashy prediction stories — it appears that only three films have so far been given a golden ticket to compete in Cannes. Variety can reveal that one of them is Jim Jarmusch’s anticipated “Father Mother Sister Brother“ starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits.

The last edition of the festival, which Fremaux had warned would be slightly weaker due to the impact of the double Hollywood strikes, proved to be anything but. Headlined by Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning “Anora,...

There's no mistaking any other film from a Spike Leejoint. The director's vibrant personality and distinct iconography are imbued into his films, from his searing dramas to inventive genre exercises. Remaking Akira Kurosawa's High and Low is a fool's errand on paper, but Lee, whose upcoming film, Highest 2 Lowest, is a reinterpretation of the legendary crime classic from 1963, will undoubtedly place his authorial stamp on it, taking its DNA and reshaping it to fit his unique vision and sensibilities. It's hard to imagine anyone else directing any Lee picture, but if there's one fellow director of his who carries a similar level of auteurism and creative panache, it is Martin Scorsese. One of Lee's most overlooked gems, Clockers, a gritty, soulfully charged New York-set crime drama, was almost directed by Scorsese, and Lee did his best remix of the archetypal Scorsese crime saga.

In the wake of A$AP Rocky‘s not-guilty verdict over gun/shooting charges, director Spike Lee (“Da 5 Bloods”) is celebrating the news today by sharing a first-look image on Instagram from his Cannes-bound kidnap thriller “Highest 2 Lowest,” which stars the musician alongside Denzel Washington (“Malcolm X”) in Lee’s remake of the Akira Kurosawa classic “High & Low.”

Read More: Cannes 2025 Expected To See Films From Spike Lee, Kristen Stewart, Scarlett Johansson, Jim Jarmusch & More

Kurosawa was adapting the Evan Hunter, aka Ed McBain novel “King’s Ransom,” which was published back in 1959.

Continue reading ‘Highest 2 Lowest’: Spike Lee Shares First-Look At A24 Kidnap Thriller Starring Denzel Washington & A$AP Rocky at The Playlist.

Spike Lee has shared the first look at his latest film, “Highest 2 Lowest,” with lead actor A$AP Rocky in a prison jumpsuit. The first-look image was posted just 24 hours after A$AP Rocky was found not guilty in a semiautomatic firearm case.

A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, made his acting debut in 2015 coming-of-age film “Dope.” He went on to appear in “Zoolander 2” (2016) and in a short film with his romantic partner Rihanna. Now, the rapper is staking his claim in the indie-film game: A$AP Rocky stars in two A24 features out this year: Sundance hit “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest.”

In the film, A$AP Rocky stars as Yung Felon, the lead character in the reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low.” Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, and Ice Spice also star.

While the official lineup of films at the Cannes Film Festival taking place in May won’t be made public until mid-April, there are already some early rumblings of what projects we should expect to see on that list and there are plenty of reasons to get excited.

That group of potential entries as compiled by Deadline includes directorial debuts with Kristen Stewart‘s “The Chronology Of Water” (still a chance it might not be completed in time), and Scarlett Johansson‘s “Eleanor The Great.”

Read More: Tom Cruise’s ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Potentially Eyeing Cannes Film Festival Screening

Notable and high-profile films that are expected to screen at Cannes, pending official confirmation: Jim Jarmusch‘s latest effort “Father, Mother, Sister, Brother,” Spike Lee‘s “Highest 2 Lowest” (a remake of the Akira Kurosawa kidnap drama that stars Lee’s longtime muse Denzel Washington), Wes Anderson‘s...

Ethan Hunt could be hitting the Croisette.

Though no decision has been made, “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” is weighing a Cannes Film Festival bow, which could see Tom Cruise injecting some serious star power into the event. Paramount, which declined to comment for this article, will be releasing the movie in theaters on May 21, which falls during the second week of the festival. The film is intended to be Cruise’s last outing as the Imf spy.

Paramount has a rich history with the festival, and so does Cruise, whose last trip to Cannes — for “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022 — was a triumph. The movie went on to gross $1.45 billion at the worldwide box office and even garnered six Oscar nominations, winning a statuette for best sound.

Some other American filmmakers also strongly tipped to bring their latest pics to the glamorous festival include Spike Lee’s highly anticipated...

Exclusive: With one of Europe’s three flagship film festivals approaching half way stage, minds are already beginning to focus on the shape of the next two: Cannes and Venice. The former will be upon us before we know it.

As ever, there is no shortage of anticipated movies in contention. Indeed, one leading producer we spoke to remarked that 2025 is looking like “a particularly tough year, a much stronger year than 2024”. The surprise to us during our research for this piece is just how many big movies look like they will push to fall rather than launch on the Croisette. That’s not to say that Cannes won’t be box office. It remains the gold standard. The importance of both Cannes and Venice as launchpads is at an all-time high. Just look at how many Oscar nominees now start out at those two festivals — five of this year...

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” star Rose Byrne and director Mary Bronstein discussed working with “renaissance man” Asap Rocky at Berlin Film Festival ahead of the film’s international debut on Monday night. The rapper and actor has not been on the festival circuit for the film, which world premiered at Sundance last month, due to his ongoing trial for allegedly firing a gun at a former collaborator.

When asked about casting Rocky, Bronstein said that she “wanted to have non-traditional actors for the supporting roles,” which also includes Conan O’Brien. “One, to give Rose an interesting thing to work with, and two, as a sign to the viewer that I’m not playing into any expectations.”

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” follows Linda (Byrne), whose life comes crashing down around her as she “attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness, her absent husband, a...

Spike Lee dug Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl Lix halftime show, and he especially liked what he (and others) saw as an homage to his 2015 film “Chi-Raq.”

Lamar cast Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam in his 2025 halftime performance; the character served as a narrator for Lamar’s set during the most-watched Super Bowl in history. Jackson also played a narrator figure in Lee’s “Chi-Raq,” which celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year.

While film critics quickly gleaned the apparent casting reference, Lee confirmed that he too understood Lamar’s vision to include a reference to his own filmography.

“I want to thank my brother Kendrick for the 40 Acres and a Mule shoutout, which has been the name of my production company since NYU Grad Film School,” Lee wrote on social media. “And I want to send a special shoutout to my Morehouse brother Samuel Jackson who started this Super...

Between “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Malcolm X,” “He Got Game,” and “Inside Man,” Denzel Washington and Spike Lee have had more than enough opportunities to collaborate with one another, and yet it seems neither could let more time go by without doing at least one more project together.

The actor and auteur reunited for the first time in almost 20 years for the upcoming crime film “Highest 2 Lowest.” The project is inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low,” which starred Toshiro Mifune as a wealthy Japanese businessman who gets caught in a game of cat-and-mouse with a sadistic kidnapper. The film shot last year in New York City and is expected to be released sometime in 2025. Speaking in a recent interview with The New York Times, Washington expressed his joy in getting to work with Lee again, though he didn’t feel much time had passed at all.

“It didn’t feel like 20 years,...

Spike Lee, director of Da Five Bloods (2020) and BlacKkKlansman (2018) is finally working on his next movie. After five years since his last movie was released, the acclaimed director is moving forward with his project titled Highest 2 Lowest.

The movie is based on the 1963 Japanese crime film High and Low and has been in production with A24 studios, with Denzel Washington attached as the star. Set to release in spring this year, the film has already received high praise from director Martin Scorsese, with Lee posting to Instagram to gush about the Goodfellas creator's positive response.

RelatedDenzel Washington, Michael J. Fox Among President Biden's Last Medal of Freedom Honorees

The honorees will receive their awards at the White House on Jan. 4.

Scorsese Has Given Lee’s Project High Praises With Early Screening

Lee’s latest film has long been confirmed to be in post-production, with shooting having wrapped back in June 2024. The project,...

Jeffrey Wright credits his “Highest 2 Lowest” director Spike Lee for encouraging a career “high” of his own: making his directorial debut.

Wright told Men’s Health that Lee inspired him to direct his first project, which will be shot in 2026. It’s unclear whether the yet-to-be-announced project is a film or a series, but it will be Wright’s first time behind the camera regardless.

“Well, Spike would say to me, and a few other people I’ve worked with have said to me, ‘When are you going to direct?’” Wright said. “So that may be in the works. That is in the works, actually, for a project we’ll shoot in 2026. I’ll have to talk to you about that one later.”

Wright will draw from his past experiences with auteurs like Lee to make his own directorial debut.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with many...

Ever since Oscar season became a year-round affair catering both to industry professionals and movie buffs all over the world, there has been a tendency to pencil in certain contenders sight-unseen based on their previous awards success or showbiz prominence. If Steven Spielberg has a new film on the way, it's immediately a prohibitive favorite for at least a nomination. Meryl Streep in a drama about something timely or socially important? That's one Best Actress nod most likely spoken for.

It's always a mistake to think this way. This is something I learned in 2007, when, as a participant in an Oscar prognosticating poll, I predicted Academy Award nominations across the board for "Charlie Wilson's War." How could I not? A drama about the United States' involvement in Afghanistan directed by Mike Nichols (winner for "The Graduate") and starring Tom Hanks (winner for "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump"), Julia Roberts (winner for...

2006 was a good year for Denzel Washington on the big screen, because he starred in two high-grossing, high-quality thrillers: "Deja Vu" and "Inside Man." Just as "Deja Vu" was "Vertigo" as a time-traveling action movie, "Inside Man" was director Spike Lee's 21st century update on Sidney Lumet's "Dog Day Afternoon."

Written by Richard Gerwitz, "Inside Man" follows a hostage situation during a robbery at a Manhattan bank. Washington plays NYPD hostage negotiator Detective Keith Frazier, squaring off against the robbers' leader, Dalton Russell (Clive Owen). The story didn't begin with Lee (Ron Howard was in talks to direct "Inside Man" first), but he made it his own. "Inside Man" is definitely more of a crowd pleaser than something like "Do The Right Thing," as seen by it also being Lee's highest-grossing film to date, but it's absolutely a Spike Lee joint.

Lee's range as a director comes in...

What does Spike Lee have up next after “Highest 2 Lowest,” his remake of Akira Kurosawa‘s “High And Low,” hits theaters this Spring? Deadline reports it might be another military dramedy in the style of his 2020 film “Da 5 Bloods.”

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2025

Lee will develop “Liberty,” about a group of military cadet’s crazy night in NYC during Fleet Week, with writers Rebecca Murga and Jalysa Conway; he’ll produce the project, too, and possibly direct it.

Continue reading ‘Liberty’: Spike Lee To Develop Upcoming Military Dramedy, May Also Direct at The Playlist.

No one has quite depicted Black Americans in all their glory, flaws, and reality like Spike Lee. The filmmaker contributed greatly to the independent movement of American films in the 1980s, and Lee’s unique vision and mise en scène won over audiences. He had his breakthrough with the social satire Do The Right Thing and has not looked back since.

Lee is currently working on his 25th film as a director and will be working with A24 on Highest 2 Lowest, an official remake of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. The filmmaker has an eclectic filmography even if many of his films tend to talk about one topic in particular. So, here are ten underrated Spike Lee movies.

10. Jungle Fever A still from Jungle Fever | Credits: Universal Pictures

Spike Lee’s fifth film Jungle Fever explores themes that he would again include in his next work Malcolm X....

While the downfall of physical media has been predicted time and time again, 2024 has proved the opposite with many impressive and interesting releases, not juts Asian titles. However, when it comes to Asian cinema many boutique labels especially have given film-lovers the opportunity to (re-)discover many gems of the cinematic landscapes of Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand to name but a few. The following list may serve as an overview of some of these releases, some of which may stand representative of a whole catalogue from a production company.

Without further ado, let’s delve into the list of the 30 best physical media releases of Asian cinema in 2024, in random order

1. Seven Samurai (BFI)

Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece certainly needs no introduction and its release on 4k was one of the most anticipated releases for connoisseurs of Asian cinema. While there is also the Criterion edition of the film,...

Last Updated on December 26, 2024

What do Tom Holland, Mark Ruffalo, Owen Wilson, and Denzel Washington have in common? You could say the Marvel Cinematic Universe and be on the right track, but we’re really talking about Marvel spoilers here. That’s right, even though Denzel hasn’t officially joined the MCU, he did let it slip that he was offered a role in Black Panther 3 well before he was supposed to reveal any involvement with Marvel. And the man feels really bad about it.

Appearing on the Variety Awards Circuit podcast (via EW), Denzel Washington admitted he knew he goofed when he said that Ryan Coogler had a role lined up for him at Marvel. With nothing confirmed – and knowing that Marvel doesn’t take spoilers lightly – Denzel knew he had to make things right. “I called him the other day. I forgot what it was about — no, I called him to apologize.

Denzel Washington might kick a lot of asses in The Equalizer franchise, and he might be causing a lot of trouble in Gladiator 2 thanks to his portrayal of the manipulative Macrinus, but behind the camera he’s actually a pretty chill dude. He’s got a wife, a few kids, and now, when he’s not acting, Washington can probably be found officiating a wedding or two, as he recently got baptized and received his minister's license in a ceremony that took place at Kelly Temple in New York City.

Archbishop Christopher Bryant took to Facebook (seen below) to post about the joyous occasion, saying, "We celebrate the addition of Minister Denzel Washington into the clergy, having received his minister's license in the Church of God in Christ today, in a truly uplifting moment." The ceremony took place on Saturday, Dec. 21 in NYC at the same church "Washington attended as a child,...

Denzel Washington, an actor who has won an Academy Award, enjoyed a big personal achievement this weekend. Just a few days before his 70th birthday, he received both a minister’s license and a baptism certificate at a service at the Harlem, New York, Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ.

On Saturday, Washington told the audience about his thoughts on his spiritual journey. He called the event his “greatest accomplishment.” The First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Eastern New York live-streamed it on Facebook.

“I’ll be 70 next week.” He told the people there, “It took a while, but I’m here.” He told his wife Pauletta Washington how much he loved her and sent her a word of hope. “God can do anything for you if He can do this for me.” “There’s no limit to the sky,” he said.

Denzel Washington was baptized at Kelly...