Talk has it that Johnny Depp and "Collateral" & "Heat" director Michael Mann may be teaming up for a film about the Depression-era crime wave.

Mann has long pursued plans for a screen adaptation of Brian Burrough's nonfiction book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34" for Universal Pictures. Leonardo DiCaprio was in fact previously attached to the project.

Now though according to The Hollywood Reporter, both Mann and Depp have holes in their schedules and are sitting down this week to discuss the possibility of joining forces. If it all comes together, Depp would play the role of bank robber John Dillinger and production would kick off in March in Chicago.

Mann has considered helming Sony's spy thriller "Edwin A. Salt" but has not committed because he believes it needs a rewrite. Depp was originally slated to shoot both "Shantaram" and "The Rum Diaries" but both projects were delayed last month.

DiCaprio is almost certainly no longer involved due to his commitment to Scorsese's "Shutter Island."