His ‘Primary’ Concern Is Making Film

It wasn’t enough that Mike Nichols had pledged $1.5 million of his own money in a bidding war for the film rights to the best-selling “Primary Colors,” a roman a clef based on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. The Oscar-winning director also had to “audition”--that is, present his vision of the film to “Anonymous,” the phantom author of the book.

“I’ve bought projects before, though never so publicly or flashily,” said Nichols, who performed improvisational comedy with partner Elaine May before bringing movies such as “The Graduate” (1967), “Silkwood” (1983), “Working Girl” (1988) and “The Birdcage” (1996) to the screen.

“Overt or covert, I had to have it so I could make the movie that was in my head. The story deals with honor--a subject movies love. Whatever dirty deeds the candidate and his staff engaged in, they’re reaching for the high ground.”

In the end, Nichols won out over rival bidders Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures and Fox 2000, who had also submitted their ideas to the agent for Anonymous, who was unmasked Wednesday as Newsweek and CBS political columnist Joe Klein.

Initially denying authorship, the journalist admitted his identity this week only after an expert matched samples of Klein’s handwriting to changes scribbled on a “Primary Colors” manuscript.

Nichols wishes the author’s identity had not been divulged.

“I’d rather Anonymous had remained mysterious,” acknowledged the director who, after a budding e-mail relationship, finally spoke with Klein on Wednesday. “Now Klein will be tortured with questions about whether he took notes, whether certain conversations really took place--bringing the book back into the realm of nonfiction. I’ve always regarded ‘Primary Colors’ as a work of the imagination. The story has more power that way.”

Late last year, CAA agent Bob Bookman sent the manuscript to a half-dozen filmmakers hand-picked by the author, including Nichols, who was too busy with “The Birdcage” to read it. None expressed interest, but the picture changed dramatically when “Primary Colors” took off, becoming a fixture on the New York Times bestseller list for five months.

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The opening bid for the film rights was $250,000, according to producer Irwin Winkler (“GoodFellas”), who had hoped to make the movie himself. Were it not for delays on the part of Anonymous, he recalled, the project would have sold for that amount.

“While waiting for an answer, sales increased and bidding became feverish,” Winkler said. “The town is hungry for original material--and there hasn’t been a mainstream movie in that genre since Michael Ritchie’s ‘The Candidate’ in 1972. And this shouldn’t be a very expensive film since there are no aliens landing or [as in “Eraser”] alligators to suit up.”

If Nichols has his way, however, star power will drive the budget up. Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks (an actor in the $20-million range) is the director’s first choice for the role of the opportunistic Gov. Stanton, whose run for the presidency mirrors Clinton’s come-from-behind victory. Emma Thompson is the leading candidate to play his wife, a sharp, calculating sort reminiscent of the first lady. Whether these actors come aboard, their representatives say, depends on their reaction to the screenplay, currently being written by May.

“Hanks is a charming, likable, smart actor who knows a lot about interpersonal politics, the importance of talking to people in parking lots and malls,” Nichols said. “Thompson, someone whose head comes before her body, is a natural for Mrs. Stanton--a doer and perhaps the most intelligent character in the book.”

According to the director, Jack Nicholson has expressed interest in playing the “New Agey” Gov. Picker, who nearly denies Stanton the nomination, while John Malkovich has been in discussions about the role of the campaign manager with a predilection for flashing. Though the central role of the narrator is still up in the air, Nichols said the British-born Bob Hoskins (“He has the best American accent under the sun”) would be great as the character said to be patterned on former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo. As for Libby, (“a dust-buster--the one responsible for bimbo control”), the director has Kathy Bates in mind.

Industry observers point out that a powerhouse cast--not to mention the A-list director and screenwriter--brings with it extensive gross-profit participation. The challenge is holding onto enough so that the financing entity can recoup its costs. It was less the success of “The Birdcage” ($123 million domestic gross) than a “lifetime of toil,” Nichols said, that enabled him to come up with the cash.

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Since Nichols took the risky--and highly unusual--step of buying the rights himself, however, no studio is yet involved. By summer’s end, however, he has to decide who will finance the shoot that he hopes will begin in January. His alternatives: going with any of a host of interested studios (all but one have expressed interest, he said) or financing the movie in Europe or Asia and selecting a U.S. distributor down the road.

“If I financed it abroad, I’d own the movie but be involved in a huge Monopoly game during the shoot, lining up nine countries for the production, then two more for prints and advertising,” Nichols said. “Besides, there’s something cleaner and simpler about the guys you know. If MGM/UA hadn’t just been sold, I’d go with my old friend [United Artists chief] John Calley, a guy who knows what’s his job and what’s yours. But it will take some time before we see where everyone lands.”

For all the hassles Hollywood can pose, Winkler maintained, it’s the better alternative by far. “I’ve made about 40 movies, 38 of them financed by majors,” he said. “If you think the studios are tough, you should see the guy buying video rights for Bangkok giving you notes on the script . . . not to mention eunuchs advising you on casting.”

During his phone conversation with Klein, Nichols discussed the “technical” end--among other things, how to cut the plot so the movie doesn’t rival “The Sorrow and the Pity” in length. Deleting some of the prominent politicos shouldn’t pose problems, the director said, since the tale isn’t tied to the current political scene.

“Even if Clinton isn’t reelected, you have the story of a man continually endangered by feet--if not other organs--of clay, someone managing to battle on because he wants something honorable to get done,” Nichols said. “That’s a good story for us at this minute. If a politician does something against the American canon, everyone knows about it six hours later. And, in the absence of heroes such as FDR or Jefferson, we have to move forward with what we’ve got.”