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

Lees new movie, an English-language reinterpretation ofAkira Kurosawas 1963 Japanese crime classicHigh and Low, was not part of the official lineup announced by Cannesdelegate general Thierry Frmaux and presidentIris Knoblochat 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 starsDenzel Washington,Ilfenesh Hadera,Jeffrey Wright,Ice Spice andA$AP Rocky and is set to get a theatrical release with A24 before it airs on Apple TV+.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee)

The Cannes Film Festival confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Highest 2 Lowest would indeed premiere out of competition on the Croisette. The festival said they had been waiting for final confirmation that Denzel Washington, who is currently performing Othello on Broadway, would be attending Cannes for the premiere. The film will screen in Cannes on Monday, May 19. Monday is the traditional off day for Broadway, and Cannes confirmed both Washington and Lee will attend the Highest 2 Lowest premiere.

The 2025 competition lineup is packed with auteur heavyweights, including Kelly Reichardt, who returns to Cannes competition withThe Mastermind, an art-heist drama starring Josh OConnor and John Magaro, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War; Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier, who returns to the Croisette after his 2021 triumph (withThe Worst Person of the World) withSentimental 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.

Scarlett JohanssonandHarris Dickinsonare also set to make their directorial debuts at this yearsfest. Frmaux screened 2,909 features in its selection process, an all-time record. See the full lineup for the 2025 Cannes Film Festivalhere.