Mark Wahlberg's New Crime Drama Earns One Of His Lowest Box Office Debuts Ever

Published Sep 5, 2026, 1:22 PM EDT Brennan Klein (he/him) is a senior news writer at Screen Rant, host of the Attack of the Queerwolf podcast, and contributor at Alternate Ending and Horror Press. He has been writing and podcasting about pop culture (especially horror movies) for over a decade at platforms including Blumhouse, Fangoria, Dread Central, The Backlot, and Arrow in the Head. By Any Means doesn't have the means to win at the box office during its opening weekend. The new Mark Wahlberg movie stars the two-time Oscar nominee as Gregory Scarpa, a mafia hitman who teams with FBI special agent Wayne Strider (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) to get to the bottom of a string of murders of civil rights activists in 1966 Mississippi. 2026's By Any Means, which was directed by Elegance Bratton (The Inspection) from a screenplay by Sascha Penn (Power Book III: Raising Kanan), debuted over Labor Day weekend alongside a number of other new releases, including the survival thriller sequel Fall 2: Deadpoint and A24's Adam Wingard-helmed action-horror movie Onslaught. The supporting cast of By Any Means includes Nicole Beharie, Ethan Embry, David Strathairn, Josh Lucas, LisaGay Hamilton, and Giancarlo Esposito. Per Deadline, as of Saturday morning, By Any Means is projected to earn a 3-day total of $7 million by the end of its traditional opening weekend at the domestic box office (and $8.55 million by the end of the 4-day Labor Day holiday weekend). Even if its projections climb to $9 million (which is ultimately unlikely), the movie will officially earn one of the 10 lowest domestic opening weekends in history for a Mark Wahlberg movie that premiered in wide release. Below, see the current Bottom 10 wide-release domestic debuts for Mark Wahlberg movies. These titles are the star's only films up to this point that have debuted below $10 million. Rank Title Domestic Debut Worldwide Box Office #1 Joe Bell (2021) $749,635 $1.7 million #2 Father Stu (2022) $5.4 million $21.6 million #3 Renaissance Man (1994) $5.5 million $24.3 million #4 All the Money in the World (2017) $5.6 million $57 million #5 The Corruptor (1999) $5.7 million $24.5 million #6 Rock Star (2001) $6 million $19.3 million #7 Fear (1996) $6.3 million $20.8 million #8 Arthur the King (2024) $7.6 million $40.9 million #9 Broken City (2013) $8.3 million $34.7 million #10 The Gambler (2014) $9.1 million $39.3 million While By Any Means has been able to debut in the Top 5, hitting No. 4 above every other new release of the weekend (it's only behind the sophomore weekend of Coyote vs. Acme, the eighth weekend of The Odyssey, and the sixth weekend of Spider-Man: Brand New Day), it may not be on track to turn a profit by the end of its run. The historical crime drama reportedly cost $29 million to make, which is not a large expenditure in the modern era, when blockbuster movies have budgets that often balloon to $100 million or more. However, because theaters keep half of ticket sales and marketing costs are not factored into production budgets, this could place its estimated break-even point as high as $72.5 million. That is a benchmark that has not been achieved by a single Mark Wahlberg wide release that debuted below $10 million. In fact, if By Any Means has a similar trajectory to Arthur the King, which is Wahlberg's most recent movie to have a similar opening weekend, it will gross less than $35 million by the end of its run, falling short of that benchmark by a wide margin. While it will eventually be bolstered by its future releases on video on demand, physical media, streaming, and television, it would be questionable if it will ever be able to turn a profit if it doesn't climb higher than that estimate. The movie could potentially be building some level of word of mouth, however. While critics' By Any Means reviews have earned it a Rotten score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, verified audience members have given it a far superior score of 87% on the same platform. Enjoy ScreenRant's box office coverage? Click below to sign up for my weekly box office newsletter (make sure to check "Box Office" in your preferences) and get exclusive analysis, predictions, and more: Sign Up Release Date September 4, 2026 Runtime 107 Minutes Director Elegance Bratton Writers Sascha Penn Producers Basil Iwanyk, Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Erica Lee, Alex Lebovici, Chester Algernal, Elegance Bratton A mafia hitman and a young Black agent are secretly hired by Hoover's FBI and sent to pursue those responsible for assassinating civil rights leaders in 1966 Mississippi. Main Genre Drama Executive Producer(s) Gianni Benvenuto, Lee Broda, Logan Coles, Nicki Cortese, Brando Eaton, Wayne Marc Godfrey, Warren Goz, Dorit Hakim, Samuel Hall, Christine Holder, Mark Holder, Adam Kolbrenner, Petr Jákl, Kevin G. Lee, Waylen Lin, Rob McGillivray, Jonathan Miller, Victor Moyers, Jonathan Oakes, Jason Pamer, Sascha Penn, Jeff Rice, Phillip Schenkler, Lee Shira, Christopher Tremann, Chase Vergari, Richie Walls, Zach Zhang