‘By Any Means’ Star Mark Wahlberg Gives Update on Long-Rumored Bill Belichick and Pete Rose Biopics

Mark Wahlberg has built a career out of chasing complicated, larger-than-life real people, and his current press run has only reinforced that pattern. With his new crime drama ‘By Any Means’ hitting theaters, Wahlberg has been making the rounds discussing his latest transformation while also opening up about what could come next in his ongoing string of biographical roles.

That conversation took an unexpected turn during a lengthy sit-down on “The Rich Eisen Show,” where Wahlberg discussed his new film alongside his well-documented love of sports. Between segments about his beloved New England Patriots, Wahlberg addressed two long-simmering biopic projects that fans have wondered about for years.

The actor confirmed there’s genuine talk swirling around a potential Bill Belichick biopic, though he made clear the project remains very much in its early stages. Wahlberg said he hadn’t yet read a script for the film, but confirmed a friend who produced and financed the project currently holds the rights to tell Belichick’s story.

When asked directly whether he’d want to play the legendary coach, Wahlberg didn’t hesitate. “Why wouldn’t I be? Of course I would be,” he said on The Rich Eisen Show, adding that he understood Belichick himself may be interested and involved in the project, which he said would make things considerably easier moving forward.

Further along in development is a separate biopic centered on baseball legend Pete Rose, a project Wahlberg revealed has been in the works for quite some time. He said the team has gone through various versions of the script over the years and is now getting close to a workable draft, with hopes of beginning production sometime in early 2027.

Wahlberg described the film’s focus as centering on Rose during his run chasing the all-time hits record while serving as player-manager of the Cincinnati Reds, along with the fallout tied to his clash with then-commissioner Bart Giamatti. He compared the tone of the project to a mix of a cautionary tale and an entertaining, wild ride, drawing comparisons to films like ‘Raging Bull’ and ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’

Wahlberg spoke candidly about Rose’s complicated legacy, noting that he’d long felt Rose could have secured a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame had he been more forthcoming earlier about his gambling issues. He acknowledged Rose’s recent death as unfortunate, while still praising him as one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen, calling the story a genuine cautionary tale layered with entertainment value.

Much of the conversation also centered on Wahlberg’s new role in ‘By Any Means,’ where he plays real-life mob figure Greg Scarpa. Wahlberg explained he was drawn to the project after learning about Scarpa’s involvement in helping crack the Mississippi Burning case and a separate 1966 case involving a voting rights activist, details he said left him genuinely stunned given Scarpa’s reputation as one of the most prolific killers in mafia history.

Wahlberg revealed he had previously considered playing Scarpa years earlier in a different, unproduced project with director Antoine Fuqua centered on the Colombo crime family wars. For ‘By Any Means,’ Wahlberg said he spent significant time with Greg Scarpa Jr., who worked alongside him throughout the production, and that Scarpa Jr. and his mother’s reaction to seeing Wahlberg in full costume for the first time helped humanize the character for him in a deeply personal way.

He also noted that the FBI has still never officially acknowledged Scarpa’s cooperation during that era, adding an extra layer of intrigue to a story he described as based entirely on true events.

Between confirming his interest in playing Belichick and giving fans a firmer timeline on the long-gestating Pete Rose project, Wahlberg’s conversation offered plenty of fresh insight into where his next major biographical roles might be headed.

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