Denzel Washington is making it clear that he no longer has much interest in sitting down to watch films, even as he celebrates his latest project with Spike Lee.
In a GQ sit-down with Lee, the 70-year-old Oscar winner admitted that movies don’t hold his attention the way they once did. “I don’t watch movies, man. I really don’t,” Washington confessed. “I’m just being honest with you! I don’t watch movies! I don’t go to the movies. I don’t watch movies… I’m tired of movies. Yeah.”
Washington and Lee were promoting Highest 2 Lowest, their newest crime thriller that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The film marks their fifth collaboration, following Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man.
During their conversation, Lee asked Washington to estimate how many movies he’s done. “Too many. I think 50!” Washington replied.
Speculation about retirement surfaced when Lee joked at Cannes that this could be their final outing together. “I think this is it – five. He’s been talking about retirement, so… Even though he just did another deal. I thought you said you were retired, Denzel, what’s up?! But those five films together, those stand up.”
Lee later clarified his comments in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, hinting that the duo could reunite again. “I said that before, but I got my mind right. I’m open to work with Denzel Washington and this not be the last film of the dynamic duo, D and Lee.”