Mann had written a screenplay about Alvin Karpis in the 1980s which was never produced . After reading an excerpt from Burrough 's book in '' Vanity Fair '' , he eventually worked to develop a film based on the book with producer Kevin Misher . Novelist and screenwriter Ronan Bennett had written a screenplay about Che Guevara which Mann had intended to develop , but the project was shelved as Steven Soderbergh was already working on his two-part biopic about Guevara . Starting in 2006 , Bennett worked for over 18 months on adapting Burrough 's book , writing several drafts . Former '' NYPD Blue '' writer and '' Southland '' creator Ann Biderman rewrote the screenplay with Mann , who polished it before shooting began . Of the screenplay , Burrough has said " it 's not 100 percent historically accurate . But it 's by far the closest thing to fact Hollywood has attempted , and for that I am both excited and quietly relieved . " Principal photography began in Columbus , Wisconsin on March 17 , 2008 and continued in the Illinois cities of Chicago , Aurora , Joliet and Lockport ; and the Wisconsin cities of Oshkosh , Beaver Dam , Milwaukee , Madison and several other places in Wisconsin ; including the Little Bohemia Lodge in Manitowish Waters , Wisconsin , the actual location of a 1934 gun fight between Dillinger and the FBI . Some parts of the film were shot in Crown Point , Indiana , the town where Dillinger was imprisoned and subsequently escaped from jail . The actual 1932 Studebaker used by Dillinger during a robbery in Greencastle , Indiana was also used during filming in Columbus , borrowed from the nearby Historic Auto Attractions museum
Little Bohemia Lodge
Little Bohemia Lodge
Public Enemies (2009 film)