Chris Hansen Says ‘Primetime’ Exploited His Name, Weighs Legal Action Against A24

The story around Chris Hansen and ‘Primetime‘ has only gotten bigger since A24’s true-crime drama reached theaters on September 25. The film premiered in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, where it reportedly drew a seven-minute standing ovation, then moved quickly into a wide North American release.

It revisits the era of ‘To Catch a Predator’, the sting-operation series that ran from 2004 to 2007. Lance Oppenheim directed from a script by Ajon Singh, adapting Luke Dittrich’s 2007 Esquire article, with Robert Pattinson playing the host. Phoebe Bridgers, Merritt Wever, Sean Bridgers and Skyler Gisondo round out the cast.

Commercially, the movie has been a win. It opened to $19.2 million from 2,863 theaters, the third-best debut in A24 history, on a production budget of just $15 million. Younger viewers drove that turnout, with 69% of the opening crowd under 30, and the film holds an 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Pattinson was the main attraction, with more than 75% of exit-poll respondents naming him as their reason for buying a ticket. It also marks his second straight hit for the studio after ‘The Drama’.

The weekend chart was crowded, too. ‘Primetime’ landed at No. 4 behind ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’ ($26 million), the ‘Resident Evil’ reboot ($23 million) and ‘The Heart of the Beast’ ($20 million), and it earned a B grade from CinemaScore respondents. Previews alone brought in $2.7 million, a sign that curiosity around the project was already running high.

The real-life host, however, is far from pleased. In an interview with Variety, Hansen said the filmmakers “exploited me and my brand and my name image for commercial enterprise.” He added that plenty of people see the situation as identity theft.

Hansen described the film as entirely fictional and said it keeps only his name and a couple of catchphrases. He compared the tone to science fiction, pointing to the green-tinted look and the vampire-like portrayal of his character, and said his mannerisms and lines were imitated in a far more dramatic way than he ever delivered them.

He also said the filmmakers never spoke with him before using his name, image and reputation. In his telling, he has spent 45 years building a valuable brand, and the studio knew that attaching his name would bring people into theaters.

The most sensitive part of the dispute involves Louis William Conradt Jr., an assistant district attorney in Murphy, Texas, who died by suicide after a police sting conducted in coordination with the show’s team. Hansen said nobody wanted to see that happen, but he maintains the movie does not reflect the real story behind the investigation.

He also objected to how his personal and love life are depicted, saying the film leans on tabloid-style storytelling. For a journalist who spent decades at ‘Dateline’, seeing that version of himself on a movie screen clearly stung.

You see how this looks, right? Lance Oppenheim’s PRIMETIME produced by and starring Robert Pattinson as famed To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen, inspired by true events. Have a seat September 25. https://t.co/FvGyl2dIBs

— A24 (@A24) August 6, 2026

Hansen said attorneys are reviewing the film, although he has not decided whether to take the matter to court. He has maintained that nearly everything in the movie is untrue, and he has not backed away from that stance in the days since. The interview took place a few days after he watched ‘Primetime’, and he walked through what legal action against A24 might look like.

Meanwhile, he is still busy with TruBlu, the media platform he co-founded in 2020. It hosts ‘Takedown With Chris Hansen’, which launched in 2022 as the spiritual successor to the show at the center of the movie.

The timing is awkward for A24. One projection suggests the film could finish near $180 million worldwide, which would push it past both ‘The Drama’ and ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ on the studio’s all-time chart.

That kind of success also keeps Hansen’s complaints in the spotlight, and he joins a growing list of public figures who have pushed back on their Hollywood portrayals. Whether this ends in a lawsuit or simply a loud public dispute remains to be seen.

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