Paramount Pictures' film "By Any Means" opens September 4, 2026, with Mark Wahlberg playing Gregory Scarpa Sr., the Colombo family capo and secret FBI informant known as the Grim Reaper. This is the official website of the Scarpa family: Greg Scarpa Jr., his son, tells the real story here.
Yes. In the 1960s, the FBI used Gregory Scarpa Sr. in Mississippi during investigations into Klan violence against civil rights workers. The film, directed by Elegance Bratton, dramatizes that chapter; the FBI agent played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is a fictional composite created for the movie.
Yes - Gregory Scarpa Jr. and his sister served as advisors on the film, as reported in press coverage, and Greg spent about a month and a half on set.
The film ends in the 1960s. Greg Scarpa Jr. lived everything after: the Colombo wars, the cell next to Ramzi Yousef, the Terry Nichols explosives tip credited by a federal judge, twelve years in ADX Florence, and coming home after 32 years. Read his true story, see the signed collection, or talk to Greg himself.
Greg Scarpa Jr. gave a full life-story sit-down interview to VladTV, telling his complete story in his own words. Watch the full VladTV interview. He also goes live regularly with the Set It Straight community and takes questions directly from viewers.
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