MOVIES - Feb. 12, 1996

Primary Movie Deal: “Anonymous,” the unknown author of the best-selling novel “Primary Colors,” has signed a movie deal for more than $1 million. The New York Times reported that the deal was done without revealing the identity of the author, a secret that has Washington buzzing because the novel reads like an insider’s account of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. Film rights to the novel were sold last week to producer-director Mike Nichols, Random House President Harold Evans said. Nichols is expected to make the movie in late 1997 or 1998, said Robert Bookman of Creative Artists Agency, who handled the deal. Bookman said the author’s anonymity delayed negotiations for two days. No stars have been suggested for any of the roles in the movie.

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Fostering French Film: Jodie Foster has given French director Mathieu Kassovitz a boost by agreeing to distribute his film “La Haine” (Hate) in the United States. The black-and-white film earned writer-director Kassovitz best director honors at last spring’s Cannes Film Festival. The movie covers 24 hours in a working-class Paris neighborhood, where a Jew, an African and an Arab endure run-ins with the police and skinheads. Foster also said she may star in Kassovitz’s next movie. Their collaboration remains in the early stages, Foster told the French newspaper Votre Dimanche, offering no details about the project. If the film is a go, Foster’s company, Egg Pictures, will produce it.