Primary Colors | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mike Nichols[1] |
Screenplay by | Elaine May |
Based on | Primary Colors by Joe Klein |
Produced by | Mike Nichols Jonathan Krane Neil Machlis |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Michael Ballhaus |
Edited by | Arthur Schmidt |
Music by | Ry Cooder |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 143 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $65 million[2] |
Box office | $52.1 million[3] |
Primary Colors is a 1998 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Elaine May was adapted from the novel Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics, a roman à clef about the Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign, which was originally published anonymously, but in 1996 was revealed to have been written by journalist Joe Klein, who had been covering Clinton's campaign for Newsweek.[4][5][6] The film stars John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Billy Bob Thornton, Kathy Bates, Maura Tierney, Larry Hagman, and Adrian Lester.
Primary Colors received critical acclaim but was a box office bomb, earning $52 million from a $65 million budget. Bates was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance, and May was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.