Public Enemies

[Drizzle]

Bale deserved one for "American Psycho" and "The Machinist" as well. His time will come. I just think Depp deserves one a little bit more.

 

[Gotham]

Bale deserved one for "American Psycho" and "The Machinist" as well. His time will come. I just think Depp deserves one a little bit more.

He does already have two nominations. Bale doesn't have any.

 

[Cinemaman]

Bale is one of the most talented actors, and I am still surprised he hasn't gotten even nomination yet.

 

[Nirvana]

He does already have two nominations. Bale doesn't have any.

Depp has three nominations, not two.


Pirates
Find Neverland
Sweeney Todd

 

[Darkness Falls]

this movie will own
Depp vs Bale

 

[Hunter Rider]

This is an extremely interesting read, for anyone who's interested.

Spoiler

THE CROP REPORT - 2/20/08 (PUBLIC ENEMIES)

• By Jeremy Smith
• Published 20th February

The Crop: Public Enemies

The Studio: Universal Pictures

The Director: Michael Mann

The Writers: Ronan Bennett w/ revisions by Ann Biderman and Mann

The Cast: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Clarke, Stephen Dorff and John Ortiz

The Premise: Gentleman bank robber John Dillinger and square-jawed federal agent Melvin Purvis do the Neil McCauley/Vincent Hannah dance in an impeccably structured narrative that starts with Dillinger's 1933 escape from the Indiana State Prison and concludes with his assassination outside Chicago's Biograph Theatre in 1934.

The Context: Does Michael Mann really need a hit? That depends on the studios' willingness to continue granting the sixty-five-year-old director substantial budgets and final cut even though his films rarely gross north of $70 million domestically (Collateral, starring a pre-couch Tom Cruise, is his only film to crack $100 million). For a while, Mann dodged this kind of ruthless, bottom-line thinking by attaching bankable stars to his less-than-bankable projects (strange to think that Ali wasn't bankable, but boxing hasn't been a serious draw in this country since Mike Tyson bit off Evander Holyfield's ear*), but then Miami Vice happened. Suddenly, the studios weren't so hot on the notoriously exacting filmmaker.

We know this because I'm not writing about what will probably (and sadly) be known in perpetuity as Mann/Logan Project. A lavishly imagined film noir set against the backdrop of 1930s Hollywood, the production couldn't entice a single studio in town despite the marketable leading man presence of Leonardo DiCaprio to offset its proposed $120 million (New Line tried to interest Mann in a massively scaled-back $90 million rendition, but he wisely declined). Had Mann come calling in the wake of The Insider, the answer almost certainly would've been "Is $120 million all you need?" But after the extreme commercial disappointment of the very pricey Miami Vice in 2006, there was a sense that the filmmaker couldn't be trusted, that his instincts were off. The Insider had bought Mann all kinds of prestige clout, but, evidently, this goodwill was all used up.

So Mann began to cast about for something a little more affordable, or, barring that, vastly more commercial than a backlot noir starring one of today's hottest stars. One potential project was The Winter of Frankie Machine, an adaptation of Don Winslow's aging hit man yarn being developed by Robert De Niro. Getting back together with one-half of Heat's thespian dream team sounded promising enough, but was the material durable enough to withstand Mann's aggressive tinkering? Before we could see a script, Mann was on to the next big thing, a second go-round with Will Smith called Empire. Described by Smith as a Richard III-influenced character study of a media mogul, the screenplay was still in its nascent stages back in December of '07; it would be some time before it was up to Mann's precise standards.

Well, since the studios aren't buying 1930s noirs, how about Public Enemies, a... 1930s gangster epic centered on the adversarial relationship between expert criminal John Dillinger and stolid G-man Melvin Purvis? It's like the Mann/Logan project, but stripped of glitz and DiCaprio! If the studios aren't going for DiCaprio as a gumshoe, you'll get shut down all over town unless you've got, say, Johnny Depp attached as Dillinger.

So Mann went and got, say, Johnny Depp attached as Dillinger. But how's the Dillinger saga more commercial than the Logan noir?

The Script: I imagine the pitch going something like this: "What if I could give you a younger, sexier Heat in 134 minutes with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale?", at which point Universal quickly forgot the myriad headaches of Miami Vice and coughed up the nine-figure budget.

At least the studio knows all of the shooting will take place in the continental United States. Even more important, they've got to be excited to have Mann shooting a relatively compact gangster flick that's heavier on heists and getaways than brooding meditations on cop/criminal duality (though I should not that I'm working from Mann's 11/4/07 revisions; he's had over three months to go nuts on the tête-à-têtes). For Mann-iacs, there are definite pluses and minuses here: while the details of the bank jobs and shootouts are lovingly explicated down to the last ejected shotgun shell, the character depth is, at present, nowhere near the level of Heat and heavily imbalanced. But the latter deficiency may be intentional; despite his mental acuity (J. Edgar Hoover values intellect over common street smarts), Purvis is a neophyte compared to Vincent Hannah. He's not good enough to catch Dillinger on his own; he'll need ringers - the kinds of hired guns Hoover detests - to bring Dillinger in.

If this lopsided dynamic isn't being addressed in current rewrites (given Mann's burnishing tendencies, there's little doubt he's doing something to the script prior to principal), here's what you'll get: Depp's most unaffected star turn since Blow and Bale doing what Bale does best, which looks something like this...

​

I'm not complaining or taking (much of) a shot at Bale. Actors have to take cuts in their wheelhouse from time to time to keep their mechanics sharp. Also, a minimalist magician like Mann could find heretofore unexploited nuances in Bale's impassiveness; there may be a wealth of character lurking in Purvis that can't be expressed on the page.

But let's focus on what Public Enemies gets right: Dillinger and the period through which he briefly, but flamboyantly romped. The script opens with the gangster breaking out of the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. The operation - which also entails springing Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley, Homer Van Meter and Dillinger's mentor, Walter Dietrich - goes smoothly until the vicious Ed Shouse loses control and bashes the brains out of a random guard. Figuring this is his fate as well, on of the other guards lurches for Van Meter's .45; the result is a bloody, protracted firefight that leaves Dietrich dead (Dillinger thrashes, but stops just short of killing Shouse once the gang is clear of the prison).

Before moving on to Purvis's intro, there's an interlude at a nearby farmhouse where Dillinger and the boys change out of their prison duds and grab a quick bite courtesy of a poverty stricken family. This allows Mann to establish Dillinger's a) generosity (he peels off a $20 bill, which is double what their breakfast might've cost), and b) attractiveness to the opposite sex (the farmer's young daughter quietly pleads with Dillinger to take her with him).

Whether genuine or pure public relations put-on, Dillinger's congeniality stands in sharp contrast to Purvis's joyless demeanor (which reportedly inspired Dick Tracy's no-nonsense profile). And we get our first glimpse of it as the agent is chasing down a fleeing Pretty Boy Floyd through the woods of East Liverpool, Ohio. Purvis orders Floyd to halt, and ducks a hail of Thompson scatter for his trouble. Ultimately, Purvis has no choice but to fire on Floyd, and he puts him down for good; however, before Floyd expires, he gets the opportunity to gurgle out a "rot in hell" to his relentless pursuer. It's difficult to tell how Purvis feels about his handiwork; J. Edgar Hoover, on the other hand, is thrilled, and tasks his rising star to make Dillinger his next dead-or-alive collar.

With this, we cut back to Purvis's quarry, who's swiftly cleaning out the vault of a bank somewhere in Indiana with Van Meter, Pierpont and Makley. Dillinger's efficiency is breathtaking (later in the script, he claims he can get in and out in one-minute-forty), and the minutiae of his execution will surely prove fascinating once Mann gets this sucker up on its feet (I especially like Makley's "git", a pre-Mapquest "triptik" plotted out to the last tenth of a mile). Flush once again, Dillinger descends upon Chicago for some long overdue carousing. He also touches base with the heavy hitters in the Windy City: Alvin Karpis (the apparent mastermind of the Barker gang**), Frank Nitti, Phil D'Andrea, and so on. Karpis is enamored of Dillinger, but the others resent his devil-may-care style; in particular, Nitti and D'Andrea would prefer to keep a low-profile and work within the corrupt system rather than shake it up.

It's during this stay in Chicago that Dillinger lays eyes upon the alleged love of his life: the exotic, half-Native American Bille Frechette (Cotillard). Dillinger may live by a strict set of rules (never work with people who are desperate, never work with people who aren't the best, never work when you're not ready), but he is an absolute sucker for a pretty woman. And Bille, a coat-check girl at the Steuben Club, stomps all over every last one of his libidinal weaknesses. But Dillinger is serious. He sees Bille as the one for the long haul, and he doesn't waste time romancing her. When she protests that she barely knows him, Dillinger lets loose like a verbal Tommy Gun: "I was raised on a farm in Mooresville, Indiana. My ma died when I was three. My daddy beat the hell out of me because he didn't know no better way to raise me. I used to do dumb things, but I'm a lot smarter now. I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars, and you. What else do you need to know?" Soon after, they're a couple.

You can hardly blame Mann for falling in love with the charismatic Dillinger***. After all, he's one of his guys: a stone-cold professional dedicated to doing things the right way with the minimal amount of fuss or collateral damage. Interestingly, Mann's sympathies on the law enforcement side seem to favor Purvis's ringers: Charles Winstead, Clarence Hurt and Gerry Campbell. When the **** goes down (particularly in a ferocious, late second act shootout in Manitowish, Wisconsin involving the erratic "Baby Face" Nelson), it's brutally evident that these are the only guys capable of touching a pro like Dillinger. And Mann respects that. ****, when his time comes, Dillinger respects that.

Thematically, this is overly familiar territory for Mann. If there's a new wrinkle, it's that Dillinger is as committed to a good time as he is to his chosen craft - which he will not renounce even though it's clear he's grown obsolete. "Only thing that's important is where somebody's going," he tells Bille. And when it becomes clear he'll never get there with Bille, he makes peace with the universe under the marquee of the Biograph Theatre (where he just took comfort in the second-rate charms of W.S. Van Dyke's Manhattan Melodrama).

If this isn't Mann's most personal work, who cares? This script ****ing moves. And its unrelenting velocity ensures that - provided Mann does his typically brilliant job behind the camera (with Dante Spinotti, who is 100% confirmed as the film's DP) - Public Enemies will be his biggest box office hit ever. This is Mann's The Untouchables, the one that will keep him working through the next decade with final cut and budgets worthy of his expansive vision. Let the guy have a little fun, and then let him get back to being one of our most essential filmmakers.

Why It Should Be Great: There's somewhere around five heists in the screenplay and two major shootouts (the most involved being the FBI ambush of Dillinger's hideout in Wisconsin). While the action doesn't overwhelm the character development, it's more of an emphasis than it's ever been in a Mann film. If nothing else, this is going to be an enormously entertaining movie.

Why It Might Miss: No chance. Mann's a professional. This is not his Amy Brenneman.

*Mann was also about four years late on the Ali resurgence incited by When We Were Kings and the champ's inspiring torch lighting moment at the 1996 Olympics.

**A script notation quotes an historian who claims Ma Barker "couldn't organize breakfast".

***The screenplay includes this excerpt from a newspaper account of Dillinger's post-apprehension press conference in Chicago: "His diction was amazing - better in many instances than that of his interviewers - his poise no less so... There was no hint of hardness about him, no evidence save in the alert presence of armed policemen that he had spent his formative years in a penitentiary. He had none of the sneer of the criminal... Looking at him for the first time...he rates as the most amazing specimen of his kind ever seen outside of wildly imaginative moving picture."

This is a very interesting read, I hope Mann can get his Noir made if this is a big hit.

 

[Super_Ludacris]

I mentioned this film a couple of months ago in a Bale thread and was suprised no one knew about it. Im suprised more people arent talking about here given the stellar lineup.

I think we need to add: "Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Michael Mann Dillinger Project" to it or something.

This cast and script looks outstanding.

 

[chamber-music]

I hope Mann leaves his shakey hand held camera at home this time.

 

[bullets]

This guys pwes us a good movie after Miami Vice . That movie should of been awesome .

 

[Ryanman]

This guys pwes us a good movie after Miami Vice . That movie should of been awesome .

I liked it.

 

[terry78]

Here is the news story I mentioned earlier. Come spring I'll be out there attempting to get some set pics, so if anybody else lives over this way, help me out.
-----------------------------------------------

Johnny Depp as Dillinger

Larger font size

BY MOLLY WOULFE
[email protected]
(219) 852-4329 | Friday, February 29, 2008 | No comments posted.

CROWN POINT | Johnny Depp, aka John Dillinger in the Universal film "Public Enemies," is hitting Crown Point this spring reportedly to reprise the gangster's bold 1934 escape from Lake County Jail.

The scene will be shot on location at the Old Sheriff's House and Jail, 226 S. Main St., sources said. Universal declined to comment on specifics.

The front part of the Second Empire-style building housed the top cop in Dillinger's era. The back holds the cells from which the bank robber fled in broad daylight.

Dates for the Crown Point shoot are under wraps. But director Michael Mann has targeted the old Lake County Criminal Court, 220 S. Main St., as his headquarters during a three-day stay. Reborn the Hall of Justice Bar and Ballroom in the early 1990s, the jail's neighbor will host up to 200 actors, crew members and technicians.

"Hollywood's coming to Crown Point," said Philip Struebig, co-owner of the Hall of Justice. "It's going to be a heck of a thing for Crown Point. It will put us back on the map."

He is banking on hosting a reception for three-time Oscar nominee Depp, 44, during the shoot. "We're ready to rock 'n' roll," he said.

Work crews arrived Monday to prep the red-brick jail for its close-up. By Thursday, a dozen tradesmen were measuring timber on sa****ses for a new drop ceiling and walls. The chug of a portable generator and buzz of a circular saw all but drowned out jokes about tommy guns.

"I wish we could say (the restoration) will be complete, but it'll be mostly the entry and upstairs," Universal location scout George Constas said Thursday.

The Depression-era cells -- one which housed Dillinger -- are rating kid-glove treatment. The restoration team will make them "look pretty, but not too pretty" for the period drama. "It'll just look like a jail," said Constas, standing in the gutted foyer. "Concrete and bars."

Indiana native Dillinger escaped the heavily guarded jail March 3, 1934, by brandishing a gun. Some say it was real gun smuggled into him; some say it was hand-carved.

He then embarrassed local authorities by driving off in Sheriff Lillian Holley's new V-8 Ford. The nonprofit Sheriff's House Foundation oversees the registered landmark today.

Philip and Cynthia Jo Struebig, who purchased the courthouse in 1990, said they met with Mann before Christmas to discuss local Dillinger sites that might be incorporated into the film. The "Miami Vice" producer toured the old courthouse, admiring the "Victory of Law Through Justice" mural before which Dillinger was arraigned, then inspected the jail.

Mann also borrowed a book and vintage photos of Public Enemy No. 1 from the Struebigs' collection of gangster memorabilia that adorns the Speakeasy Restaurant and Great Escape lounge within the Hall of Justice Bar. When they bought the old courthouse, "it was deteriorated. It was raining in the ballroom. We restored it as a labor of love. Never did I expect something like this would happen," Philip Struebig said.

Based on the book by Bryan Burrough, the crime drama will bow in 2009. The cast includes Christian Bale as G-man Melvin Purvis, who ambushed Dillinger outside Chicago's Biograph Theatre a few months after he fled the "escape-proof" Lake County Jail. Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, who collected best actress honors for her role as Edith Piaf in "La Mome," has been tapped as Billie Frechette, the gangster's lover and companion. "Public Enemies" will be filmed from March through June in Chicago, Indiana and Wisconsin.


Casting agent Joan Philo has issued an all-points bulletin for male reporters and photographers to play paid extras in scenes slated for Hammond, Gary and Crown Point. Also, an open casting call for men, women and children will be Saturday at Lane Tech High School in Chicago. See the Chicago Scene column in the ontheGo section for details.

 

[Van Petrol]

I'm really looking forward to this film.

 

[Super_Ludacris]

This film is gonna be an internet classic (cause of Bale, Mann and Depp Online Nation of Fans) and maybe an actual cinema classic.

 

[Archangel]

IMDB has David Wenham cast in this, anyone know if that's true?

 

[Dark Donnie]

IMDB has David Wenham cast in this, anyone know if that's true?

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=42259

Wenham and Graham Board Enemies
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
February 22, 2008


David Wenham and Stephen Graham have joined the cast of Universal's Public Enemies, Michael Mann's gangster film starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, says The Hollywood Reporter.

An adaptation of Brian Burrough's book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43," the film centers on the government's attempt to stop John Dillinger and his gang. Depp is playing Dillinger to Bale's famed FBI agent Melvin Purvis.

Wenham is playing Pete Pierpont, a member of Dillinger's crew who has a violent hostility to all authority. British actor Graham will portray Baby Face Nelson.

Also in the cast are Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi and Stephen Dorff.

Shooting begins in March in Chicago.

...

 

[Rezzo]

IMDB has David Wenham cast in this, anyone know if that's true?

Yep, it´s true.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=42259

Wenham and Graham Board Enemies
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
February 22, 2008

David Wenham and Stephen Graham have joined the cast of Universal's Public Enemies, Michael Mann's gangster film starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, says The Hollywood Reporter.

An adaptation of Brian Burrough's book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43," the film centers on the government's attempt to stop John Dillinger and his gang. Depp is playing Dillinger to Bale's famed FBI agent Melvin Purvis.

Wenham is playing Pete Pierpont, a member of Dillinger's crew who has a violent hostility to all authority. British actor Graham will portray Baby Face Nelson.

Also in the cast are Marion Cotillard, Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi and Stephen Dorff.

Shooting begins in March in Chicago.

 

[terry78]

Depp and Mann were already out in Crown Point scouting the infamous barn, but no shooting will be taking place until the next week and a half. Supposed to be under wraps, but I'll be out there periodically to see if I can get some casual camera phone shots.

 

[Super_Ludacris]

This movie really deserve more hype I think....

 

[Dark Donnie]

Dillinger's Car

March 3, 2008 IN ROSCOE Johnny Depp as John Dillinger in Local Museums Car


Roscoe, IL. March 3, 2008- Universal Pictures ‘Public Enemies’ starring Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis will be using the actual car that John Dillinger used in the robbery of the Greencastle, Indiana bank. The film will be released in 2009 from director Michael Mann who was responsible for such films as ‘Miami Vice’, ‘Collateral’, and ‘Heat’.

The car will be loaned to the film from Historic Auto Attractions in Roscoe, IL. It was John Dillinger’s getaway car when Dillinger and his gang robbed the Central National Bank in Greencastle, IN, in October of 1933. It was the largest bank robbery up to this point in history, totaling over $75,000. This robbery will be retold in the film and feature the actual car from the actual robbery. It is sure to be one of the greatest pieces of trivia in film history!

On Tuesday March 4th at 10am the car will be picked up by the transportation department of the film from Historic Auto Attractions to be made ready for its big screen debut.

What: John Dillinger’s car to be used in the movie ‘Public Enemies’.

When: It will be picked up at Historic Auto Attractions at 10am on Tuesday March 4th.

Where: Historic Auto Attractions is located on Metric Dr. off Rockton Road.

13825 Metric Dr.
Roscoe, IL 61073

 

[Hunter Rider]

That is awesome! great find Donnie.

 

[SuperBatman]

2008 or 2009's Version of American Gangster.

Bale Depp I can't wait.

 

[Two-Face]

I can't wait for this, Depp and Bale in a movie!

 

[turtlefocker]

I like that they are making it as accurate as possible.

 

[Dark Donnie]

That is awesome! great find Donnie.

No Problem

 

[Gotham]

2008 or 2009's Version of American Gangster.

Bale Depp I can't wait.

I don't know. American Gangster felt like one big scenario with no climax. Hopefully Mann will have a climax in this.