The Oscar-winning 1990 gangster movie Martin Scorsese almost directed instead of ‘Goodfellas’

Martin Scorsese briefly agreed to direct Warren Beatty’s *Dick Tracy* before losing interest and choosing to make *Goodfellas* instead. The decision left Beatty to direct the comic-book adaptation himself, creating an unusual alternative to the crime film that became one of Scorsese’s best-known works.

Released in 1990, *Dick Tracy* was a box-office hit, earning four times its budget, and won three Academy Awards: for art direction, makeup and original song. Beatty had developed the project since the mid-1970s and took the lead role after Clint Eastwood and others turned it down; he said he eventually decided he had to direct it himself.