Dick Tracy (film)/Trivia

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• All-Star Cast: Though many of the biggest stars had relatively small roles.
• Development Hell: The film switched studios, writers, and directors multiple times, especially since Beatty refused to make the film realistic and gritty, and eventually helmed the film himself. Beatty hoped to make a sequel, but Disney had no interest after the film didn't pull the kind of numbers Batman did despite an all-out marketing blitz. The film rights to the property were in legal battle for twenty years as Beatty and The Tribune Co. continued to try to stake their claim to it, with Beatty finally winning in March 2011. He hopes to finally make a follow-up to the film, but has not indicated when he would begin pre-production or a script.
• Hey, It's That Guy!:
  • Dustin Hoffman is Mumbles.
  • Mandy Patinkin is 88 Keys.
  • James Caan and Catherine O'Hara (Home Alone's Kate McAllister) have uncredited cameos as rival mob bosses in the scene where Big Boy unites the gangs of the city.
  • Dick Van Dyke is D.A. Fletcher.
  • Blink and you'll miss him, but Colm Meaney of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine fame appears as a first-responder police officer after the drive-by attempt.
• Playing Against Type: Dick Van Dyke as D.A. Fletcher, who does the bidding of Caprice as a victim of extortion.
• Stillborn Franchise: Disney/Touchstone had hoped that Tracy would become the Indiana Jones of the '90s. However, there were legal issues between Warren Beatty and Tribune Co. over who had the rights over the franchise that ensued for two decades.
• Stunt Casting: Dustin Hoffman as Mumbles, apparently on a dare.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Tim Burton was offered to direct it at one point but had to turn it down to focus on Edward Scissorhands.
  • Brooke Shields almost secured the role of Breathless, but was replaced nearly last-minute because producers thought she was too young for the role.
  • Danny Elfman originally proposed a darker, more Gershwin-inspired score that was very different from the one heard in the movie proper. He later released it on Volume 1 of his compilation album, Music for a Darkened Theater.
  • Sean Young was originally cast as Tess Trueheart but was replaced when Warren Beatty felt she was not right for the role. She later accused him of firing her for not having an affair with him (Beatty had a reputation for being quite The Casanova after all).
  • Jack Nicholson was originally offered the lead role, and he seriously considered it, being a lifelong fan of the comic strip. However, he turned it down, being already committed to his role in Batman. Robert De Niro turned the role down, as he was afraid of being typecast as a grim, hardened tough guy like his Travis Bickle character in Taxi Driver. Bruce Campbell was an avid fan of the comics and lobbied hard for the title role; Warren Beatty (who don't forget, was also direction) thought Campbell was "too TV like" and turned him down; Campbell floated the idea of a live-action series later, but it never went anywhere. Other candidates included James Caan, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, George C. Scott and Tom Selleck.