The first trailer for the new police thriller with Mark Wahlberg. The dark episode in US history, inspired by the collaboration of a mob hitman with the FBI
“By Any Means,” a true-life thriller set in the US civil rights era and starring Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, is set for release in September 2026. Paramount has released the first trailer for the film.
Abdul-Mateen II stars as a young black FBI agent who investigates the murder of civil rights leaders in Mississippi in the mid-1960s, according to Screen Rant.
The film follows the agent as he teams up with Gregory Scarpa (played by Mark Wahlberg), a mob hitman who applies his own violent form of justice.
Paramount has released the first trailer for “By Any Means,” and the film will hit theaters later this year.
Footage from the trailer shows FBI agent Wayne Strider, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, increasingly frustrated by the large number of unsolved cases involving slain civil rights leaders in Mississippi. The FBI assigns him to investigate these crimes, but forces him to collaborate with Gregory Scarpa.
The character played by Mark Wahlberg is presented as an extremely violent man who frequently resorts to beatings and intimidation, sometimes coming close to killing his victims in order to obtain information. However, the two are united by the desire to do justice, trying to solve the case and bring those responsible for the crimes to justice.
As the trailer shows, Strider's investigation ends up putting his family in danger after they become the target of a racist group. Thus, the FBI agent comes directly into the sights of the people they are investigating.
As the pressure mounts, Strider begins to be influenced by Scarpa's perspective, which believes that violence can also represent a form of justice. The trailer hints at this vision through several scenes where Scarpa resorts to brutal methods, including killing a cop who discriminates against Strider.
Given the emphasis on action scenes, the film seems to follow Strider and Scarpa as they seek revenge and justice through means that go beyond the limits of the law.
The story is based on a real case
Although “By Any Means” is an action film with fictional elements, the character of Gregory Scarpa is based on a real person. Scarpa was a mob hitman who worked with the FBI in the 1960s.
In 1966, the year the film is set, he assisted the agency in investigating the murder of Vernon Dahmer, a civil rights activist killed by Ku Klux Klan members in Mississippi.
Although the film allows itself some artistic liberties, the production promises to stay true to the historical context of the era and bring to the fore the assassination of an important leader of the civil rights movement.
Set to hit theaters in September 2026, “By Any Means” marks Mark Wahlberg's first return to a dramatic action role since Play Dirty, in which he starred alongside LaKeith Stanfield.
For Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, this will be the next big role after appearing in the series “Man on Fire”, inspired by the film of the same name with Denzel Washington.
Although the crime thriller is not explicitly presented as an action film, the trailer suggests that the story will evolve into an increasingly violent confrontation.
Three months before its release, “By Any Means” is set for an intense production that explores the struggle for civil rights in 1960s America both from the perspective of the authorities and those who choose to take justice on their own. The film focuses on the dilemma between law and justice, following the two protagonists in their quest to bring the perpetrators of the crimes to justice.
