Actor Johnny Depp, the biggest moneymaker for theaters the past two years, will soon be in Wisconsin portraying Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger, Gov. Jim Doyle said today, confirming a new film will have major parts shot in the state.
Doyle said NBC Universal committed to Wisconsin as the scene for parts of “Public Enemies,” with Depp playing the robber whose Midwest crime spree ended when FBI agents shot him to death in Chicago in July 1934.
It’s the first major production to come to Wisconsin since new tax incentives for the film industry took effect Jan. 1.
(UW alumnus Michael Mann wrote the screenplay and will direct the film.)