Robert Pattinson Stuns as Chris Hansen in First Trailer for ‘Primetime’
A24 has released the first trailer for Primetime, the upcoming crime drama starring Robert Pattinson, and the film is already drawing attention for its unusual take on one of the most controversial true-crime stories in modern television.
According to information shared alongside the trailer, Primetime is directed by Lance Oppenheim in his narrative feature debut and is based on the early 2000s NBC news magazine series Dateline NBC, specifically the segments hosted by Chris Hansen.
The film explores the rise of the sting operation format made famous by To Catch a Predator, where Hansen confronted men who believed they were meeting minors, but were instead caught on hidden camera as part of law enforcement operations.
Robert Pattinson plays Chris Hansen in the film, which reimagines the early development of the television format that made Hansen a household name. The trailer presents a stylized, split-screen approach, showing tense interviews and staged confrontations that mirror the structure of the original broadcast segments.
In the trailer, Pattinson’s version of Hansen delivers lines that directly reflect the journalist’s on-screen persona. At one point he says, “What would have happened if I wasn’t here? You see how this looks, right?”
He continues with another statement aimed at his subjects: “At the end of the day, a man must be held accountable for the decisions that he makes. Would you agree?” The teaser also includes the familiar setup where Hansen introduces himself to camera, saying, “I’m Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC — and you’re able to be a part of television history.”
The film’s official description focuses on a journalist whose reporting changed television forever by exposing crimes in the digital age. However, the trailer suggests a more complicated tone, with hints that the story may also question the ethics of how the program was made and how entertainment and journalism overlap in true-crime television.
The cast includes Skyler Gisondo, Merritt Wever, Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher, Anna Faris, and Sean Bridgers, adding to a strong ensemble around Pattinson’s lead role. The project is produced by A24, with Pattinson also serving as a producer.
Early descriptions of the film compare its tone to films like Nightcrawler, focusing on the darker side of media obsession and televised crime storytelling. The teaser leans into that idea, presenting Hansen’s work not just as journalism, but as a spectacle built for television audiences.
Production on Primetime took place in New Orleans under the working title Bluefin Tuna, with filming completed in early 2025. The film is directed from a script by Ajon Singh and is backed by producers including Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fred Berger, and others alongside Pattinson.
Primetime is currently scheduled for a theatrical release in September 2026, distributed by A24, though an exact date has not yet been confirmed.
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