The summer of 1990 was supposed to be a showdown between Dick Tracy and Days Of Thunder.

It was a bit of an odd rivalry…

This article originally appeared on Den of Geek UK.

Yet the seed was planted in 1990 that sure-fire blockbuster hits werent always, well, sure-fire blockbuster hits.

Sequels toBack To The FutureandGhostbustersalso hit, and business was pretty much as usual.

Going into 1990, confidence was high.

Neither was a cheap bet.

Uncharacteristically for the time Disney back then was a penny-pinching studio the company had invested heavily in the film.

With the exception of Warner Bros withGremlins 2, a film that would be bruised for the direct encounter.

But its easy to overlook thatDays Of Thunderwas expected to be the big film of the summer.

Yet in 1990, this looked a sure-fire bet.

Uber-producer Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer reunited theTop Gunteam, and theTop Gunformula.

This time, Tom Cruise played Cole Trickle (chortle), a racing car driver.

Check out Rich Halls dissection of Tom Cruises movies on YouTube, incidentally.

Comedy gold, and eerily true.

Indeed, thats what many were actively predicting.

It was a rivalry that was stoked up by key personnel behind the films, too.

Never mind that the production ofDays Of Thunderwas going off schedule and over budget.

Wildly over, as it happened.

But that notwithstanding, the promotion was substantive, and confidence was high.

A June 27th, 1990 release date had been earmarked, and the competition stayed clear.

The studio knew that it had 12 days to rake in cash, before the expectedThunderjuggernaut rolled into town.

Katzenberg sent a fax in return, boasting you wont believe how big my dick is.

And then the films themselves were finally released.

Dick Tracywas first out of the gate, and early signs were good.

A strong sum in its own right, and a high for a Disney project at that point.

The problem was that the repeat business didnt really arrive.

Powered by Tom Cruises name, the film certainly had an opening.

Reviews were okay, but the film was clearly a bit of a mess.

It topped out in America with $82 million in the bank, adding another $75 million overseas.

It was off multiplex screens before the summer was out.

Where two juggernauts struggled in 1990, others thrived.

Both outgrossed the hugely expensiveDie Hard 2, albeit that sequel still did good business.

TheDays Of ThundervsDick Tracybattle would have ramifications.

Ironically, they would go on to be huge successes.

Events are unfolding within and without the movie industry that are extremely threatening to our studio.

Disney would thus about-turn.

Not until Katzenberg had left the firm would it again fully embrace the expensive tentpole blockbuster movie mentality.

But one thing did quickly change.