Johnny Depp stars in Public Enemies

June 29, 5:03 PMLA Asian American Movie ExaminerEd Moy

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Universal Pictures poster for Public Enemies.

Johnny Depp returns to the multiplexes this summer, but not as that flamboyant Captain Jack Sparrow.

Instead, the Pirates of the Caribbean star, will portray real-life bank robber John Dillinger in Michael Mann's new drama Public Enemies.

As for moviegoers who might be wondering why Christian Bale's face doesn't appear next to Depp on the movie's poster?

Well, according to a recent story on E! Online, apparently, Depp is the bigger commercial draw than Bale, who portrays an iconic superhero in The Dark Knight and Batman Begins.

Although, it would seem that makes Bale just as big a star, the numbers don't add up as E! Online points out.

In their article, according to Ulmerscale.com which measures domestic and worldwide actor bankability based on studio-level movie appearances, Depp is overshadowed only by Will Smith. They are followed closely by Brad Pitt, who ranks No. 3 on the Ulmer Scale.

Bale, who appears in another of this summer's blockbuster movies, Terminator Salvation, is not as bankable an actor. He's currently not listed in the Ulmer Scale's Top 10.

So how does that affect the posters?

Simply put, it means that from a marketing angle it "all comes down to recognizable star power and iconic imagery," according to Steve Greenwald, coauthor of The Business of Film. "Johnny Depp is a bigger, more recognizable star than Bale, especially off the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. The image from the film that is being used is probably more striking than any of Bale, and Depp is the Public Enemy of the title."

Universal Pictures could have added Bale to the marketing posters, but they probably would have had to squeeze him in there with Depp or create separate posters, which is what Warner Bros. did to market Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

"The first option would have diluted Depp's selling power," stated David Eichler, a publicist who has worked at Hollywood über-agency CAA and at studios such as Warner Bros., Fox and Disney.

"The design is very skillful," Eichler explains. "It presents Depp's character, John Dillinger, in a large, menacing stance, thus making his character more intimidating. Add another face and all of that gets undermined."

E! Online speculated that the second option might work, but then again Blanchett is a woman and thus attracts more male viewers.  The article also stated that Blanchett was one of the biggest gainers in the Ulmer Scale's 2009-10 edition.

The article goes on to point out that the poster might have come down to a case of "who goes where on a billboard or in a film's marketing is prenegotiated before a movie even starts shooting; it's all nailed down in contracts." Thus it was "possible that Depp's huge face was part of a contractual deal."

"My best guess," film producer Catherine Rubey states in the E! Online article, "is that whatever mileage the studio thought they could get by featuring Bale more prominently was eclipsed by whatever they would have to negotiate contractually to do so."

For more info, visit the official website:  http://www.publicenemies.net