When Hollywood needs a bankable actor to snag a Wild West outlaw, Pablo Escobar or a few thousand Terminators, they send for Christian Bale, so why not send him after John Dillinger? This summer’s Dark Knight is in talks to star in the 2009 mobster drama Public Enemies for director Michael Mann. Bale’s rumored for the role of FBI agent Melvin Purvis, who became an American hero in 1934, the year his relentless manhunt for Dillinger culminated in the 31-year-old gangster being shot dead after he fled from a movie theater by Purvis’ men. To fire off another few rounds of cool, Johnny Depp is already signed to star as Dillinger, his first mobster role since 1997’s Donnie Brasco. Other gangsters yet to be cast include Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson.

Posted on Friday, January 11th, 2008 at 2:49 am by: Hunter Stephenson