Paramount Debuts Trailer for By Any Means Crime Thriller

Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for the historical crime thriller "By Any Means," starring Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The film, set for a theatrical release on September 4, 2026, is loosely based on true events in 1960s Mississippi.

Directed by Elegance Bratton, the movie follows an unlikely partnership between a young Black FBI agent, Wayne Strider, played by Abdul-Mateen II, and a notorious mafia hitman, Gregory "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa, portrayed by Wahlberg. The pair are forced into an uneasy alliance to investigate a wave of brutal killings targeting civil rights leaders. The narrative explores a corrupt system where traditional law enforcement methods prove ineffective, leading the FBI to employ Scarpa's violent, unconventional tactics.

Wahlberg underwent a significant physical transformation for the role, adopting longer hair, tinted aviator glasses, and a side-parted combover to resemble the real-life figure. The actor noted that the resemblance was so strong that Scarpa's own son, Gregory Scarpa Jr., who served as an advisor on the film, initially mistook him for his late father during a makeup test. Wahlberg described working with...