Paramount Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to “By Any Means,” a civil rights era-set crime thriller from director Elegance Bratton, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Wahlberg.
The studio has dated the film for theatrical release on Sept. 4.
Set against the backdrop of 1966 Mississippi and inspired by true events, the film’s logline explains, “By Any Means” follows “a volatile partnership between a hardened mafia hitman and a young Black FBI agent as they are forced into an uneasy alliance to track down those responsible for the killing of civil rights leaders — uncovering a conspiracy that tests the limits of justice, loyalty, and survival.”
Nicole Beharie, David Strathairn, Giancarlo Esposito, Josh Lucas and Ethan Embry round out the top-tier cast.
“This is a story about unlikely alliances forged under impossible circumstances — where justice is not clean, and the truth comes at a cost,” said Bratton. “I wanted to explore what it means to confront violence not just as an act, but as a system — and what it demands of those caught inside it.”
Bratton directs from a screenplay by Sascha Penn. He and Chester Algernal Gordon produced the project under their Freedom Principle banner, alongside Alex Lebovici for Hammerstone Studios; Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee for Thunder Road; and Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson for Municipal.
The high-profile project follows Bratton’s narrative feature directorial debut, “The Inspection,” which premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, where it garnered rave reviews. The film, starring Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union, was based on Bratton’s own experiences as a young gay man in the Marines during the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” era and a fractured relationship with his mother. Bratton also directed the acclaimed documentaries 2019’s “Pier Kids,” winner of the Truer than Fiction award from Film Independent, and last year’s “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House.”
WME Independent handled the sale. North.five.six is handling international sales of the film.
