Primary Colors
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Mike Nichols
John Travolta
Billy Bob Thornton
Emma Thompson
Adrian Lester
Kathy Bates
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
The fictional story of a presidential run by Jack Stanton, a womanizing, idealistic Southern governor who battles other Democratic candidates in a primary run in 1992. As seen through the eyes of his African-American campaign manager, the Stanton campaign is filled with enthusiastic young Democrats all of whom have dreams that their man is going to win. The story behind the scenes, however, is a little more bawdy and involves Jack Stanton's politically astute wife; an attempt to blackmail the candidate with doctored audiotapes detailing a past sexual encounter; an alleged bastard child of Stanton's from a black teenager; a possibly illegal real estate deal known as Tidewater Estates; the uncovering of a candidate's past as a cocaine-addicted homosexual by Stanton's campaign; and the suicide of one of Stanton's longtime friends.
Cast
John Travolta
Billy Bob Thornton
Emma Thompson
Adrian Lester
Kathy Bates
Maura Tierney
William Stanford Davis
Rolando Molina
Harrison Young
O'neal Compton
Geraldo Rivera
Rosalie Peck
Darice Richman
Tommy Hollis
Robert Symonds
Ben Jones
J C Quinn
James Denton
Larry King
Kevin Cooney
Henry Woronicz
John Vargas
Robert Klein
Robert Easton
Ned Eisenberg
Susan Forristal
Brian Markinson
Mykelti Williamson
Robert Cicchini
Monique L Ridge
James Earl Jones
Jennifer Edwards
Bianca Lawson
Bill Maher
Bonnie Bartlett
Lu Elrod
R M Haley
Vickilyn Reynolds
Gia Carides
Diane Ladd
Tony Shalhoub
Allison Janney
Larry Hagman
Caroline Aaron
Cynthia O'neal
Kristoffer Ryan Winters
Leontine Guilliard
Charlie Rose
Charlie Rose
Rob Reiner
Rebecca Walker
Susan Kussman
Paul Guilfoyle
Scott Burkholder
Bill Maher
Geraldo Rivera
Ross Benjamin
Larry King
Chelcie Ross
Crew
Joseph Accrington
Milton Ager
Ivy Agregan
Diana Aldrich
Bunny Andrews
Mary Bailey
Michael Ballhaus
Michael Ballhaus
Michael Barry
Cheryl Beasley-blackwell
Amy Berman
Juel Bestrop
Ron Bochar
Ron Bochar
David Boulton
Bobby Braddock
George Callender
Sabrina Calley
Cheryl Carasik
Kam Chan
Ben Cheah
Kevin C Clark
Ted Clark
George M. Cohan
Kris Cole
Nat King Cole
Joachim Cooder
Ry Cooder
Ry Cooder
Angelo Corrao
Marko Costanzo
Carole Cowley
Jimmie Davis
Ronnie Dawson
Joyce Deep
Patricia Kerrigan Dicerto
Lee Dichter
Tom Duffield
Lynne Eagan
Nancy Eddo
Ernie Erdman
Bruce Ericksen
Ted Fio Rito
Mary Claude Foster
Mike Frevert
Gil Gagnon
Tony Gaudioz
Tim Gibbons
Daniel C Gold
Lewis Goldstein
Robert J Goldstein
Steve Goldstein
Irving Gordon
Michael Haley
Michael Haley
Johanna Hall
John Hall
Vivian Lynn Hasbrouk
Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell
Sean Haworth
J. Roy Helland
Harry Higgins
Michele Imperato-stabile
Michele Imperato-stabile
Sondra James
Gary Jones
Gus Kahn
Frank Kern
Pee Wee King
Joe Klein
Jonathan D Krane
Brad Kuehn
Anthony Lanni
Paul A Levin
Dan Levitan
Ellen Lewis
Mark Lewis
Alan E Lorimer
Bob Lyss
Anthony Mabin
Neil A Machlis
Ronu Majumdar
Elaine May
Bob Mcdill
Valerie Mcmahon
Charles Mitchell
Carlos Moore
Mark Emery Moore
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Chris Newman
Olivia Newton-john
Mike Nichols
Kristen Niederholzer
David Norris
George Oliver Jr.
Thomas Pasatieri
Suzana Peric
Lisa L Pollaro
Perez Prado
Cindy Price
Bruce Pross
Claude Putnam
Liz Radley
Jennifer Ralston
Nic Ratner
Nicholas Rebeck
Mark Riccardi
Deborah Ricketts
Eric Rogers
John Rostill
Ann Roth
Arthur P Schmidt
Jim Sevin
Wayne Shanklin
Jasen Joseph Sica
Allen Sides
Redd Stewart
Daniel M Stillman
Juliet Taylor
Sam Tedesco
Mark Tobey
Magdaline Volaitis
Deborah Wallach
David Watkinson
Bo Welch
Bruce Welch
Chris Wood
Tammy Wynette
Jack Yellen
Victor Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Supporting Actress
Best Writing
Best Performace Actor
Best Performace Actor
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Nominated for the 1998 award for Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published from the Writers Guild of America.
Nominated for two 1998 awards, including Best Supporting Actress (Kathy Bates) and Most Promising Actor (Adrian Lester) from the Chicago Film Critics Association.
Winner of the 1998 award for Best Supporting Actress (Kathy Bates) from the Chicago Film Critics Association. Nominated for a further award for Most Promising Actor (Adrian Lester).
Winner of two 1998 Broadcast Critics Association awards, including Best Supporting Actor (Billy Bob Thornton) and Best Supporting Actress (Kathy Bates, tied with Joan Allen for "Pleasantville").
Released in United States May 1998
Released in United States on Video August 8, 1998
Released in United States on Video September 8, 1998
Released in United States Spring March 20, 1998
Shown at Cannes Film Festival (Opening Night - out of competition) May 13-24, 1998.
The controversial, anonymously written roman-a-clef "Primary Colors: A Novel of Politics" was published by Random House in 1996. In mid-July 1996, Newsweek columnist Joe Klein admitted that he was the book's author.
Director Mike Nichols purchased the motion picture rights to the novel for a reported $1.5 million.
John Travolta reportedly received $20 million for this project.
Universal Pictures has reportedly paid Mike Nichols $6.5 for the motion picture rights to the book, and an additional $8.5 million to direct and produce this project.
John Travolta reportedly received $20 million for this project.
Began shooting May 5, 1997.
Completed shooting August 4, 1997.
Icarus is Mike Nichols' production company.
Released in United States Spring March 20, 1998
Released in United States May 1998 (Shown at Cannes Film Festival (Opening Night - out of competition) May 13-24, 1998.)
Released in United States on Video August 8, 1998
Released in United States on Video September 8, 1998
