The Cast of Inception

We know next-to-nothing about Christopher Nolan's follow up to last year's smash The Dark Knight, Inception, a fact which may or may not be remedied with this Friday's release of the teaser trailer. Teasers for Nolan's films are some of the few that actually tease, showing us very little of the plot.

What we do know, though, is that Inception boasts a killer cast. Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are the four headliners. Oddly enough they all have some pretty major projects out this year. Shutter Island. Public Enemies. Nine. Whip It. (500) Days of Summer.

Other members of the cast include Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Ken Watanabe, and Tom Hardy.

Lots of big names. It's not surprising, after The Dark Knight's crazy success at the box office and Heath Ledger's Oscar win, that stars are lining up to work with him. The long list of A-listers in Inception will only bolster already high expectations for Nolan's next. Here's hoping the film lives up to them.

Side note: Am I the only one hoping that Nolan and Cotillard hit it off big time? Like, big enough for her to be cast as Catwoman in the next Batman film?

PUBLIC ENEMIES

Based on the book Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 by Bryan Burrough
Screenplay by Ronan Bennet, Ann Biderman, and Michael Mann
Directed by Michael Mann

Johnny Depp
Christian Bale
Marion Cotillard

Premiere date: July 1, 2009
R for gangster violence and some language.

Legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger - the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover's fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis, and and a folk hero to a nation besieged by financial hardship and ready to celebrate a mythic figure.

No one could stop Dillinger and his gang. No jail could hold him. His charm and audacious jailbreaks endeared him to almost everyone - from his girlfriend Billie Frechette to an American public who had no sympathy for the banks that had plunged the country into the Depression.

But while the adventures of Dillinger's gang - later including the sociopathic Baby Face Nelson and Alvin Karpis - thrilled many, Hoover hit on the idea of exploiting the outlaw's capture as a way to elevate his Bureau of Investigation to into the national police force that became the FBI. He made Dillinger America's first Public Enemy Number One and sent in Purvis to orchestrate his capture.

However, Dillinger and his men outwitted and outgunned Purvis' men in wild chases and shootouts. Only after importing a crew of lawmen from the Dallas bureau and arranging epic betrayals - from the infamous "Lady in Red" to Chicago crime boss Frank Nitti - were Purivis, the FBI and their new crew of gunfighters finally able to close in on Dillinger.

AWARDS INFO COMING WHEN AVAILABLE