Synopsis

The difficult 1930s is a time of robbers who knock over banks and other rich targets with alarming frequency. Of them, none is more notorious than John Dillinger, whose gang plies its trade with cunning efficiency against big businesses while leaving ordinary citizens alone. As Dillinger becomes a folk hero, FBI head J. Edger Hoover is determined to stop his ilk by assigning ace agent Melvin Purvis to hunt down Dillinger. As Purvis struggles with the manhunt's realities, Dillinger himself faces an ominous future with the loss of friends, dwindling options and a changing world of organized crime with no room for him.

What is the budget of Public Enemies?

"Public Enemies," a crime released in 2009, was directed by Michael Mann and stars Johnny Depp, Christian Bale. The production budget was $100,000,000, placing it in the high-budget range for crime productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for a crime production like this include:

Talent & Director Compensation: Thrillers depend on compelling lead performances to sustain tension, making cast compensation a primary budget concern. Directors with proven thriller credentials command premium fees.
Cinematography & Location Photography: Thriller aesthetics demand specific visual languages , surveillance-style photography, claustrophobic framing, or expansive location work across multiple cities or countries.
Editorial & Sound Post-Production: Precision editing , controlling information flow, building suspense through pacing, and orchestrating reveals , requires extended post-production schedules.
Development: Public Enemies is based on Bryan Burrough's 2004 non-fiction book, Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933 to 34.

What were the major cost factors in Public Enemies?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Public Enemies."

Talent: Talent & Director Compensation is one of the primary cost drivers in crime productions of this scale.
Cinematography: Cinematography & Location Photography is one of the primary cost drivers in crime productions of this scale.
Editorial: Editorial & Sound Post-Production is one of the primary cost drivers in crime productions of this scale.

How Does Public Enemies's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $100,000,000, Public Enemies sits in the high-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

1917 (2019): Budget $100,000,000, Worldwide Gross $446,064,352
American Gangster (2007): Budget $100,000,000, Worldwide Gross $269,755,430
Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024): Budget $100,000,000 , Gross $404,547,819
Batman Forever (1995): Budget $100,000,000, Worldwide Gross $336,529,144
Bicentennial Man (1999): Budget $100,000,000, Worldwide Gross $87,423,861

The median budget for wide-release crime films in the 2000s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Public Enemies Box Office Performance

"Public Enemies" earned $97,104,620 domestically and $214,104,620 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $100,000,000, the film showed modest profitability in theatrical release.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Public Enemies," that break-even threshold was roughly $200,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $214,104,620, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

Production Budget: $100,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $214,104,620
Net Return: $114,104,620
ROI: approximately 114.1%

At 114.1%, "Public Enemies" earned roughly $2.14 for every $1 invested in production.

Public Enemies Production History

Public Enemies is based on Bryan Burrough's 2004 non-fiction book, Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933 to 34. Burrough had originally begun researching the subject with the aim of creating a miniseries. The idea was accepted by HBO and Burrough was made an executive producer, along with Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions, and was asked to write the screenplay.

Principal photography began in Columbus, Wisconsin on March 17, 2008 and continued in the Illinois cities of Chicago, Aurora, Joliet and Lockport; and the Wisconsin cities of Oshkosh, Beaver Dam, Columbus, Darlington, Milwaukee, Madison and several other places in Wisconsin; including the 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 escaped from jail. The actual 1932 Studebaker used by Dillinger during a robbery in Greencastle, Indiana was used during filming in Columbus, borrowed from the nearby Historic Auto Attractions museum.