Chris Hansen, the previous Dateline NBC correspondent recognized for internet hosting To Catch a Predator, has publicly reacted to the upcoming A24 movie Primetime, through which Robert Pattinson portrays a ratings-obsessed model of him through the present’s peak years.
Talking on the Serialously With Annie Elise podcast, Hansen confirmed he had no involvement within the movie’s manufacturing and named Denis Leary because the actor he would have most popular for the half.
Hansen additionally raised pointed questions on Hollywood’s motives for making the challenge, which is scheduled to open in theaters on September 25, 2026.
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Chris Hansen’s Casting Selection
Courtesy Of A24
Hansen instructed Annie Elise on the Serialously podcast that years earlier than Primetime entered manufacturing, he had already thought of who would possibly painting him in a dramatized challenge.
“I all the time thought, you understand, I had discussions years in the past about — I had crafted a script, and I believed Denis Leary can be an excellent man to play me, relying on the age of all of it,” he mentioned.
Age was the driving issue behind the desire, on condition that the movie is about through the To Catch a Predator period, when Hansen was in his forties.
Hansen made clear he had no say within the precise casting of Primetime, telling the podcast, “They need a industrial endeavor to succeed, they usually assume that is the way in which it’s going to succeed. I didn’t get to decide on my very own man right here.”
Hansen Questions Hollywood’s Motives Behind Primetime
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Hansen confirmed he knew who Robert Pattinson and director Lance Oppenheim are, however stopped properly in need of endorsing the challenge or its intentions. “I do know that he’s a very talked-about actor. I do know that the director is a well-liked man,” he instructed the podcast.
The tv presenter continued, “However I even have some questions: what’s Hollywood’s motive right here? We don’t know, however I’ll discover out, and I promise I’ll let you understand.”
Hansen additionally expressed skepticism about why his identify was connected to the manufacturing in any respect, stating, “And my suspicion is that they used my identify as a result of it helps in a industrial enterprise.”
He added, “And till I see the total film, as a reporter, it’s type of foolish for me to speak about one thing that I haven’t seen but. So I’m gonna see it.”
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Hansen Had No Involvement In Primetime
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Hansen was not consulted through the manufacturing or growth of Primetime in any capability, and the challenge was properly underway earlier than producers made any contact with him.
He defined on the podcast how he first heard about it, saying, “A few of the people who find themselves concerned in [my] administration additionally tangentially have relationships within the Hollywood world. So we had heard that this was within the works.”
He continued, “A pair months in the past, they got here out and mentioned, ‘Hey, look, we’re doing this. We’d such as you to have some type of consideration by way of serving to us with this.’”
Hansen didn’t take an lively half within the manufacturing after that strategy, and he didn’t present notes, take part in casting discussions, or assessment the screenplay written by Ajon Singh.
Sincere Response To The Primetime Trailer
Courtesy Of A24
On the time of the podcast interview, Hansen had watched the trailer for Primetime however had not but seen the whole movie. “I’ve seen the trailer. It seems dramatic,” he instructed Annie Elise, including that he had organized a personal screening throughout the following week to look at the completed challenge earlier than it premieres.
Hansen drew a transparent line between his present work and the movie’s model of his story, telling the podcast, “I’ve been busy being the true Chris Hansen, so I haven’t got numerous time to give attention to the faux Chris Hansen within the films.”
After the screening, he indicated he deliberate to share a full evaluation, stating, “After which I’ll be capable to inform you whether or not I prefer it or don’t prefer it, and the way dramatized it’s.”
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Primetime’s Hansen Story
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Primetime is about in 2006 and facilities on Hansen’s work through the rise of To Catch a Predator, which aired from 2004 to 2007 as a section on Dateline NBC.
The present collaborated with the watchdog group Perverted Justice to lure males who believed they have been arranging encounters with minors to a sting home, the place Hansen confronted them on digicam.
The A24 movie takes a crucial view of that period, portraying Hansen as an entertainer extra targeted on scores and tv fame than on any real investigative purpose.
Lance Oppenheim directed the movie from a screenplay by Ajon Singh, and Primetime is Oppenheim’s first narrative characteristic after documentary work that included the HBO collection Ren Faire and the movie Some Type of Heaven.
Every thing We Know About The Primetime Movie
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Primetime accomplished manufacturing after being filmed in New Orleans in early 2025 beneath the working title Bluefin Tuna, and the movie will make its debut on the 83rd Venice Worldwide Movie Competition earlier than opening in choose United States theaters on September 25, 2026.
The supporting solid contains Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher, Bokeem Woodbine, and Anna Faris, with Bridgers making her performing debut within the challenge. Hansen had no enter in casting, and he confirmed the manufacturing proceeded with out his participation or approval.
