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Jason Lee: I think this one will perform strongly for Universal over the coming weeks - though is anyone surprised by the amount of Best Picture buzz this film is generating? Among others, none other Oscar-guru Harvey Weinstein has proclaimed this to be the first BP contender of the year. Given its somewhat lukewarm response from the major critics (as mentioned by Daron), I find this somewhat surprising.

Reagen Sulewski: With ten nominees? Sure, I could see it getting in there. At least, I wouldn't expect a dismissive musical montage from the Oscar host if it gets in.

Maybe he should have used the gruff voice...

Kim Hollis: Does Public Enemies' performance help Christian Bale recover from the perception that Terminator Salvation was a bomb, or can we credit the gangster movie's success all to Johnny Depp?

Tim Briody: I credit Public Enemies' opening entirely to Depp. I think the average person still doesn't know who Christian Bale is.





Scott Lumley: I've seen several commercials this week for Public Enemies, and without exception it almost appeared that this was a Depp solo vehicle. I'm starting to think that the shine is really off Mr. Bale's star.

Josh Spiegel: As I mentioned in the previous discussion about Public Enemies, none of the recent ads make mention of Christian Bale; even the full-length trailer shows off Billy Crudup more than Bale. Whatever success this film has can be attributed to Depp, that group of film fans who love Michael Mann, and those who like mobster movies. I'm not sure Bale's stardom is over, but if he's at all concerned about his status (though he's not the kind of actor who strikes me as that worried type), he may be the most fervent of those begging Christopher Nolan to do a new Batman movie.

Sean Collier: The Joker's last great prank: stealing Christian Bale's career. After Batman Begins, his star was rising; remember the hype (although it didn't translate into dollars) around The Prestige? The talk about The Dark Knight, however, was so Heath-focused that it really pulled the spotlight firmly away from Bale. Now, he couldn't make a solid hit out of freakin' Terminator. There could be a project yet where Christian was the draw, but I don't know what it would be.

Daron Aldridge: I feel like a mockingbird but this is squarely on Depp's shoulders. Heck, just look at the posters. They feature a giant Johnny Depp holding a tommy gun and he is the only one listed as above the title. So, it makes sense that the marketing team primarily focused on him in the trailers because they saw this as a solo vehicle. I do have to disagree with you, Tim, that the average person doesn't know who Bale is. That would be quite a feat considering he was just in a movie a year ago that sold more than an estimated 66 million tickets. That's a lot of eyeballs looking at the guy for two and half hours for them to not know him. While audiences might not be too interested in anything he has offered since, I still think they are aware of who he is, even if it is only as Bruce Wayne.

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