Inside Man

Inside Man is a 2006 American crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee and written by Russell Gewirtz. It centers on an elaborate bank heist-turned-hostage situation on Wall Street. The film stars Denzel Washington as Detective Keith Frazier, the NYPD's hostage negotiator, Clive Owen as Dalton Russell, the mastermind who orchestrates the heist, and Jodie Foster as Madeleine White, a Manhattan fixer who becomes involved at the request of the bank's founder Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer) to keep something in his safe deposit box protected from the robbers.

Gewirtz spent five years developing the premise before working on what became his first original screenplay. After he completed the script in 2002, Imagine Entertainment purchased it to be made by Universal Pictures, with Imagine co-founder Ron Howard attached to direct. After Howard stepped down, his business partner Brian Grazer began looking for a new director and ultimately hired Lee. Principal photography took place on location in New York City from June to August 2005. With a $45–60 million budget, it is Lee's most expensive film. The film also contains the song “Chal Chaiyya Chaiyya” from the Bollywood film Dil Se… in the beginning and end credits

Inside Man premiered in New York on March 20, 2006, and was released by Universal Pictures across the United States four days later. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $184.4 million, becoming Lee's highest-grossing film.