Public Enemies (2009)

Public Enemies is a 2009 film adaptation of Bryan Burrough’s book Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34 directed by Michael Mann.

Public Enemies movie poster (click to enlarge)

The crime drama is set during the Great Depression with the focus on the FBI agent Melvin Purvis’s attempt to stop criminals John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd. Christian Bale will play FBI agent Purvis, Johnny Depp will play Dillinger, Marion Cotillard will play Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette, and Channing Tatum will play Pretty Boy Floyd. Principal photography began in Columbus, Wisconsin on March 17, 2008 and wrapped in Chicago, Illinois; Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Madison, Wisconsin; and several other places in Wisconsin until the end of June 2008, including the famous Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, the actual location of a 1934 gun fight between Dillinger and the FBI. Some parts of the film were shot in Crown Point, Indiana, the town where Dillinger was imprisoned and subsequently escaped from jail.

FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Bale) sets his sights on American gangster John Dillinger (Depp) and others in an attempt to curb a rampant Midwest crime spree during the 1930s.

Public Enemies is based on Bryan Burrough’s non-fiction book, Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. He originally pitched the idea as a miniseries to HBO and was made an executive producer, along with Robert De Niro’s Tribeca Films.Burrough was also asked to write the screenplay. However, he felt more comfortable writing it as a non-fiction book and spent two years working on it while the interest in the miniseries disappeared. Burrough’s book was set to be published in the summer of 2004 and he asked HBO to return the movie rights. They agreed and after the book was released, the rights were re-sold to production companies representing Michael Mann and Leonardo DiCaprio who was interested in playing John Dillinger. Burrough met with a representative and then heard nothing for three years. The actor eventually left the project to appear in Martin Scorsese’s Ashecliffe.

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One Response to “Public Enemies (2009)”

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   December 23, 2009 at 6:45 pm

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