Spike Lee and Denzel Washington reunite for a Kurosawa remake, Affleck and Damon collaborate on a new LA thriller, and Smile receives a sequel
High and Low (A24)
Celebrated director Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X) will reunite with frequent collaborator Denzel Washington for the first time since 2006’s Inside Man. The pair are set to direct and star in a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low, which chronicles the ruin of a businessman following a ransom payment to kidnappers. Developed and produced by A24, Escape Artists and Mandalay Pictures, High and Low will feature a script written by Alan Fox and Spike Lee and Apple as a co-financier. Filming is set to being on March 25 in New York City.
Animals (Netflix)
After the success of last year’s Nike sports drama Air, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will reunite in front of the camera for the Affleck-directed Animals. When the son of LA mayoral candidate Milo Bradford is kidnapped, he and his wife have a few hours to come up with the ransom payment. With most of their money spent on his political campaign, they have to get their hands dirty and exposing a side of their lives they never intended to see the light of day. The film will be produced by Affleck, Damon and Dani Bernfeld of Artists Equity and Brad Weston and Collin Creighton of MakeReady, who developed the project in partnership with Fifth Season. Filming will begin in late March throughout Los Angeles.
Smile 2 (Paramount Pictures)
A sequel to the 2022 horror hit Smile, which earned over $100 million in the U.S. after the success of its viral ad campaign, will begin filming this March in Newburgh, New York. The plot, according to press materials, is that “after witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, a psychiatrist becomes increasingly convinced she is being threatened by an uncanny entity.” Parker Finn, who directed and wrote the first entry, is back for the sequel in both roles, with Paramount Pictures producing.
