MovieChat Forums > Dick Tracy (1990) Discussion > Why wasn't this a bigger hit? And why ca...

Why wasn't this a bigger hit? And why can't it be a tv series?

posted 9 years ago by stebsmeister
12 replies | jump to latest

I'm not going to pretend that "Dick Tracy" is a perfect film. There are some daft bits - Tracy's escape near the end when he's catapulted through the roof comes to mind - and, as other posters have noted, there are too many musical numbers.

Still, unlike many comic-book adaptations, "Dick Tracy" neither sneers at its sources, nor feels obliged to be too grim and earnest to prove it isn't sneering at its sources. The goodies are goodies, and the baddies are baddies; the former aren't hypocrites, and the latter aren't just misunderstood. The production, with all those gorgeous colours, really does fulfil the old cliché of a comic-book being brought to life. And there is a really nice, old-fashioned story, with a clever twist (well, as a kid, I didn't realise who No-Face was!).

So - why didn't "Dick Tracy" make more of an impact? As a comic-book, or comic-strip, derived film, was is overshadowed by the previous years "Batman"?

Secondly - and kind of returning to Batman again - given the success of "Gotham", would anyone be interested in a TV series of Dick Tracy, rather than a rebooted cinematic adaptation? This would allow for a more expanded story, with, say, two-part episodes each featuring a classic Dick Tracy villain, with an over-arching story; and such a format could also mean the use of classic "cliff-hanger" endings to episodes such as is to be found in the old serials.

Would anyone be interested in this?

www.jumpedtheshark.co.uk

[–] WeAintFoundShin 9 years ago

There was less familiarty than with Batman, due to Batman being more beloved and having the Adam West show.

There was bad publicity with the Tramp action figure.

Kids were more interested in Batman fighting the Joker than some guy in a yellow suit fighting goofy looking guys in suits?

I don't think the marketing was as strong or prevalent as Batman's.

Batman was hyped to be a major pop culture event.

[–] SallahTours 9 years ago

Kids were more interested in Batman fighting the Joker than some guy in a yellow suit fighting goofy looking guys in suits?

Not this kid! I had every single action figure that came out for this movie. Sam Catchem was my favorite. Too bad they all got sold in a garage sale :(

[–] TMC-4 (19417) 4 years ago

Prior to the movie, Dick Tracy's biggest contribution to popular culture was arguably that cartoon series from the 1960s, which hasn't aged very well due to the decidedly racist and ethnic stereotypes of Tracy's assistant detectives like Joe Jitsu and Go Go Gomez.

[–] Cassandra_Speaker 9 years ago

The movie actually made its' budget back 3 time over, it was Warren Beatty's most financially successful film.

The reason there weren't more movies was because of legal problems between the studios and the owners, they only just got resolved a few years back.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=bL6IwVKuAoQ

[–] hspells3 9 years ago

This is movie had promotion like no other back then. I'm still shocked as well that it wasn't bigger....

[–] manofsteel4455 9 years ago

It sure as hell seemed like a hit. I still remember all the toys and the video game.

[–] menotherapy 9 years ago

This is movie had promotion like no other back then. I'm still shocked as well that it wasn't bigger....

I agree.

I can't think of another movie (either past or current) that equaled the promotional campaign by Disney (disguised as Touchstone) for "Dick Tracy".

If Google News Archive ever actually had happened, any box office nerd would be trolling through these 'papers' just drooling.

This WAS supposed to be the movie of 1990 & maybe even the 90's!

However, I'm not quite as shocked as you are.

The film never had any legs, it was just to odd and comic book (strip?) looking.

Regardless, "Dick Tracy" tired desperately to become the next "Batman", but failed miserably.

Granted it grossed over $100 million and it was at least original.

But the 1930's & 40's gangster flicks weren't that interesting to kids in the 90's and while yellow, red, blue and green are fun colors...on the cinema screen?

Boring!

From my childhood, the only thing I remember vividly (- the insane marketing) was the ultra-cool Tommy Gun scene.

[–] manofsteel4455 8 years ago

And yet. Years and years later. People became a fan of Sin city.

[–] menotherapy 8 years ago

And yet. Years and years later. People became a fan of Sin city.

And your absolutely right.

[–] stevenackerman69 9 years ago

It might've been that. Also, when it came out in the summer of 1990, there were a lot of other films that might've overshadowed it too, like Die Hard 2 and the sleeper hit Ghost.

[–] TMC-4 (19417) 4 years ago

Bruce Campbell actually wanted to do a Dick Tracy TV series back in the '90s, but he couldn't because Warren Beatty, who at the time (and still does) own the film rights, wouldn't sign off on it.

[–] HedleyLamarr (354) 4 years ago

I think Dick Tracy made more than what people remember.
I was 15 in 1990 and living in a country where, at the time, there was very little to see on TV, and very few people were really into comics (they were hard to get). Apart from Superman, Spiderman, and Batman, I don't think too many new other comic book characters. But Dick Tracy, the movie, still came here and most people saw it. There was no shortage of marketing. I'm guessing Beatty pulled in the older generation of viewers (like my parents) and Madonna pulled in my generation (she was huge at the time, this is just after her Like a Prayer album).
Trying to compare it to Batman, just because it was based on comics, isn't really fair. Batman had a lot of competition (89 was the year of the sequels: BTTF 2, ST 5, Indy 3, GB 2, KK3) and it was unstoppable, and I don't think anything came close to Batman until Terminator 2.