Chris Hansen Reacts to Robert Pattinson Playing Him in A24's Primetime

Chris Hansen has now seen Robert Pattinson’s version of him — at least in trailer form — and he is not ready to give Hollywood the benefit of the doubt just yet.

Speaking on Annie Elise’s Serialously podcast, the former To Catch a Predator host said the trailer for A24’s Primetime looked “very dramatic” and openly questioned the industry’s motives for turning his work into a feature film. As Entertainment Weekly reported, Hansen said he had not been involved in the production and had not chosen Pattinson to play him.

He has not dismissed the movie outright, though. Hansen said he wanted to see the finished film before judging it and had been invited to a private screening.

Hansen once had a very different actor in mind

The strangest detail in Hansen’s reaction is that Pattinson was nowhere near his own fantasy casting.

Hansen said he had previously worked on a script based on his story and had discussed Denis Leary as someone who could play him. That project never became Primetime, which was developed separately with Pattinson in the lead.

The contrast is part of what makes the current situation unusual: Hansen is watching a dramatized version of his most famous work arrive without having shaped the movie himself.

A24’s official film page keeps the premise deliberately simple: “In 2006, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen sets out to make television history.”

Primetime heads to Venice before its theatrical release

Primetime is directed by Lance Oppenheim, making his narrative feature debut after documentary projects including Some Kind of Heaven and Ren Faire. A24 lists Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher and Bokeem Woodbine among the cast.

The film is also set to compete at the 2026 Venice Film Festival before opening in U.S. theaters on September 25. Variety’s trailer coverage says the movie focuses on a controversial period in the history of To Catch a Predator, which ran as part of Dateline NBC during the 2000s.

For now, Hansen’s position is less a verdict than a warning shot. He has questions about how Hollywood is using his story, but he is waiting until he actually sees Pattinson’s performance before deciding whether Primetime got him right.