Primetime movie: Release date, cast, trailer, and Chris Hansen controversy

Robert Pattinson is trading Gotham and the Dune sandworms for primetime. In Primetime, A24‘s true-crime drama from documentarian Lance Oppenheim, Pattinson plays Chris Hansen, the newsman who became a household name confronting men who showed up at a suburban sting house expecting to meet a minor. The film traces the origin of To Catch a Predator, the Dateline NBC franchise that turned Hansen into an unlikely TV phenomenon in the mid-2000s.

Just like the show it’s portraying, Primetime isn’t without controversy. After Hansen himself said A24 turned him away from a private screening after he refused to sign the studio’s paperwork, the host has announced that he’s bought ads in front of upcoming screenings of the film.

Here’s everything to know about Primetime ahead of its festival bow and theatrical release.

Watch the Trailer

The Plot

Set in 2006, Primetime follows Hansen as he sets out to make television history with To Catch a Predator, a hidden camera series built the hosts’s confrontations with adult men who arrived at a decoy house believing they were meeting a minor for sex. The film is described as a biographical crime thriller and marks Oppenheim’s narrative feature directorial debut after acclaimed documentaries including Some Kind of Heaven and HBO’s Ren Faire.

The Cast

Pattinson leads as Hansen and also produces through his Icki Eneo Arlo banner. He’s joined by Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie, Severance), Skyler Gisondo (Superman), Matthew Maher (Our Flag Means Death), Bokeem Woodbine (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Anna Faris (Scary Movie), Phoebe Bridgers (I Saw the TV Glow), Sean Bridgers (Deadwood), and Jonathan Lipnicki (Jerry Maguire).

The Chris Hansen controversy

Hansen went to A24’s offices on Aug. 20 for a private screening of Primetime and left without watching a single frame. On Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime that evening, Hansen said the studio’s lawyers put paperwork in front of him that he characterized as a demand to surrender the rights to his name, image and brand, plus any legal claims that might come out of the movie. He said his own attorneys had reviewed the document beforehand and advised against signing it, that he’d never seen anything comparable in four decades of reporting, and that other people had screened the film without signing anything.

Sources close to the studio have disputed that description to multiple trades, saying Hansen was handed the same standard NDA every preview audience signs to prevent spoilers and protect A24’s IP. The studio has not commented on the record.

Days before Hansen arrived at A24 he told the Serialously With Annie Elise podcast that a screening was being arranged and that he’d render a verdict once he’d seen the film. In that conversation he said he has no financial stake in Primetime, never consulted on it, and suspected his name was attached because it carried commercial value. A24 has marketed the film as “inspired by true events” rather than a Hansen biography, and Ajon Singh’s script draws on Luke Dittrich’s book Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die.

Beyond his disagreements with the filmmakers, Hansen is also seemingly looking to cash in on the renewed interest in To Catch a Predator. The host announced that he has bought ads in front of screenings of Primetime, not to refute any of the claims made in the movie inspired by his work, but to promote his streaming service. Hansen has continued to conduct the kind of sting operations featured on To Catch a Predator — the kind that resulted in the death of Kaufman County assistant district attorney Bill Conradt, as reported in the Esquire article that serves as the source material for Primetime.

Behind the Camera

Oppenheim directs from a script by Ajon Singh, with David Bolen as cinematographer and Daniel Garber editing. Pattinson produces alongside Lars Knudsen, Brighton McCloskey, Tyler Campellone, Fred Berger, and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. A24 is producing and distributing alongside Range Media Partners and Square Peg.

Venice premiere

Primetime will have its world premiere in main competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 5, 2026, where it’s in the running for the Golden Lion.

Theatrical release

A24 has set Primetime for a nationwide theatrical release on Sept. 25. No streaming date has been set.

Awards Buzz

Primetime caps a packed year for Pattinson, who also co-starred with Zendaya in A24’s The Drama, appeared in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in July, and is set to appear in Dune: Part Three in December. Despite acclaimed turns in films like The Lighthouse and The Batman, Pattinson has yet to receive an Oscar nomination — a gap Primetime‘s early awards-season positioning suggests A24 is looking to close.

Gold Derby oddsmakers currently have him among the Top 10 contenders for a Best Actor nomination, currently ranking him at No. 9 ahead of Fjord‘s Sebastian Stan and behind Michael‘s Jaafar Jackson.

Best PictureBest DirectorBest ActressBest ActorBest Supporting ActressBest Supporting ActorBest Adapted ScreenplayBest Original Screenplay

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