Is Michael Mann out of step with a keep-it-simple-minded movie marketplace?

In a perfect world, one would think that a Michael Mann film about John Dillinger starring Johnny Depp would be surefire.

But the summer of 2009 is now shaping up as a replay of the summer of 1980, where Big Star films aren't guaranteed moneymakers--especially serious ones (I remember the underperformance of the prison-reform film BRUBAKER, with Robert Redford and a then-unknown Morgan Freeman in the supporting cast).

And it doesn't help that films like TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN and STAR TREK: THE DUMBED-DOWN EXPERIENCE have reached megahit status.

Here's film gossip columnist Kim Masters' take on PUBLIC ENEMIES' commercial chances and Mann's oft-remarked-on bullying behavior:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-30/public-enemies-true-crimes/full/