Deadline is reporting that Elegance Bratton is set to make his sophomore effort with Mark Wahlberg and Sterling K. Brown in tow. Bratton made his directorial debut with the film The Inspection in 2022 and film would garner accolades from critics. Bratton’s next film is set to be By Any Means, which is a period crime thriller that’s based on a true story. The movie will be brought to us by Hammerstone Studios, Thunder Road, Freedom Principle, and North.Five.Six.
Per Deadline, the movie “is based on the incredible true story of the notorious mafia hitman who was hired by Hoover’s FBI off-the-books and partnered with a young Black special agent to hunt down those responsible for the murders of civil rights leaders in 1966 Mississippi.” By Any Means was a formerly blacklisted script called CI34, which was written by Sascha Penn and Theodore Witcher. It was then presented to the American Film Market by Michael Rothstein and Samuel Hall’s North.Five.Six., who are handling international sales. Witcher would complete multiple revisions of the script, with Bratton also contributing to the rewrites.
Filming is set to commence in March. Alex Lebovici is producing the crime thriller for Hammerstone Studios, alongside Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee for Thunder Road Films, Chester Algernal Gordon for Freedom Principle. Also, Stephen Levinson and Wahlberg are producing under his Closest to the Hole Production banner. Executive producers on board are Jonathan Oakes for Hammerstone, Michael Rothstein, Samuel Hall, and Warren Goz for North.Five.Six., Adam Kolbrenner, Sascha Penn, Waylen Lin, Zach Zhang, and Logan Coles.
Meanwhile, Wahlberg is also gearing up for a sequel to his hit family action comedy The Family Plan from Apple. The Family Plan sequel will take place at Christmas in Europe, where Wahlberg’s Dan has planned the perfect vacation for the Morgans, but his past continues to haunt them in unexpected ways. “I am beyond excited to step back into the shoes of Dan Morgan again alongside my brilliant co-stars, and with Simon and David returning,” Wahlberg said in a statement. “Making The Family Plan, and seeing it become an instant success with global audiences in the way that it did, has been incredibly rewarding. We can’t wait to collaborate with our partners at Apple and Skydance again on this next chapter for the Morgan family as their European holiday inevitably goes awry.“
Simon Cellan Jones is returning to direct from a script by David Coggeshall. “I’m thrilled to be back with The Morgans as they tear through Europe in search of the perfect action-packed family Christmas,” Cellan Jones said.