I am now convinced that Johnny Depp doesn't age. The above is part of a collection of photos over at Just Jared that show Depp as John Dillinger in Michael Mann's upcoming gangster flick, Public Enemies. If I didn't know the context, I would've assumed that this was an old picture from some film of the past that I missed. But no, this is the actor filming on his 45th birthday.

Public Enemies is the sure-to-be-awesome Great Depression drama starring Christian Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis, who is trying to stop notorious bad boys John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum). But the stars are only the tip of the talent iceberg -- Leelee Sobieski, Billy Crudup, David Wenham, Giovanni Ribisi, Marion Cotillard, Rory Cochrane, Stephen Dorff, Lili Taylor ...

The film will hit theaters in July 2009.

If you've seen Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose, you've seen one heck of a great performance. But will we see another from the actress, or was playing Edith Piaf the role of a lifetime? While I can't imagine her ever making such a huge transformation or giving such a notable, career-defining performance again, I'm excited to see where her Oscar nomination takes her and I hope that she can at least follow it up with some interesting parts. We've already heard that her next major role will be in Rob Marshall's Nine, an adaptation of the musical inspired by Fellini's 8½. After that, she could be heading to Chicago (not Marshall's Chicago, the real city) for Michael Mann's Public Enemies. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Cotillard is in negotiations to play Billie Frechette, the torch singer girlfriend of John Dillinger, who will be played by Johnny Depp. Channing Tatum, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Dorff and Jason Clarke have also joined the cast.

As Monika relayed last week, Billie will be a major character in the plot of Public Enemies, which also stars Christian Bale. The movie will reportedly balance between Dillinger's crime story and his love life while also focusing on FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Bale), who famously pursued and caught Dillinger in the mid-1930s. It is interesting to note that Public Enemies will be another singing role for Cotillard, who did not actually perform any of the Piaf songs in La Vie en Rose. But while the actress is not a born singer nor a long-trained one, she did sing in in the 2001 French film Les Jolies Choses (Pretty Things) and will be singing in Nine. Also, if you think Cotillard is suddenly getting work just because of her La Vie en Rose acclaim, you're mistaken. You may have seen her in either of her two English-language movies (Ridley Scott's A Good Year and Tim Burton's Big Fish), in any of the three Taxi movies, as the female lead in the sweet Amelie wannabe Love Me If You Dare, in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie follow-up, A Very Long Engagement or in any of the many other French films in which she has appeared.

First, Depp thought about becoming Dillinger. Then, he became Dillinger. Then, Bale signed on to battle him. Personally, I don't need any more information for the upcoming Michael Mann flick Public Enemies. It focuses on old-school criminals and the birth of the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover's notoriety, and features two of the most talented, irresistible actors today -- Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Then again, stories have ruined flicks before, so it's probably a good idea to wait and get word about the script.

If sources over at Latino Review are right, this will be one sweet, dramatic, crime-filled ride. Their source, Caxe, says: "I wasn't too excited about this project after Miami Vice, but now that I've read it -- sh*t, I cannot wait until 2009, because it seems Michael Mann might actually be back in top form with Public Enemies." He says it's not a biopic, but will detail Dillinger's desperation as his ways become obsolete and Purvis tracks him. "We have a great, twisting plot that balances Dillinger's crime story and his love affair [with a young girl named Billie] with the overall picture of organized crime in the 1930s and how the government was trying to stop it." Topping that off, he says it's filled with great characters, historical accuracy, slick dialogue, and "flat-out fantastic action sequences." We have to wait until 2009 to see if he's right, but for now, you can get more details over at Latino Review.

Two of the hottest actors on the planet right now are Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. And I don't mean "hottest" as in "sexiest," honest, although I'm sure there are a few women out there who might disagree. So who is the director that could bring Batman and Captain Jack Sparrow together in one movie? Scorsese? Spielberg? Uwe Boll? Nope, it's Michael Mann, a filmmaker who clearly knows a little something about getting the most out of his leading men.

According to Variety, Mr. Depp and Mr. Bale will co-star in Mann's Public Enemies, with the former playing infamous bank robber John Dillinger and the latter portraying persistent FBI agent Melvin Purvis. Damn. Already I want to see this movie. Production on the Universal project (which is based on a book by Bryan Burrough) is expected to begin in March ... which means the film could be ready for the end of the year! (Couldn't it?)

Check out Chris Campbell's earlier report on this project right here. Obviously we'll bring you more news on this one as soon as it comes in.

Two days ago it was a question; today it's a reality: Johnny Depp will indeed portray John Dillinger in Michael Mann's Public Enemies. According to Variety, the actor and director sealed the deal yesterday a few hours prior to Depp's appearance at the Sweeney Todd premiere. This is one of those rare situations in which something good came as a result of the writer's strike (not that it means the writer's strike is a good thing, of course), because Depp was only able to take this role after his Shantaram gig was postponed. Mann, too, has had other projects in his pipeline lately, including Empire with Will Smith, Frankie Machine with Robert De Niro, a Hollywood noir with Leonardo Dicaprio, Edwin A. Salt with Tom Cruise and one of two dueling biopics about ex-KGB Alexander Litvinenko (with the competing movie expected to star Depp, interestingly enough). None of those films have been reported as being passed over due to the strike, though.

Public Enemies was scripted by Mann himself, adapted from Bryan Burrough's book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34." In addition to Dillinger, the non-fiction tome goes into the stories of gangsters Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, the Barker gang and Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. There's no indication, however, that the movie will be focusing on any story except Dillinger's. Maybe the others will show up in passing, while Dillinger features as the main concentration. With a star like Depp in the guy's shoes, it's hard to imagine him sharing the screen with anyone expected to be taken as significant as he. Then again, it is called Public Enemies plural ...

Mann and Depp are set to begin shooting in Chicago in March.