Primetime Trailer: Robert Pattinson Stars as Chris Hansen in A24 Thriller

A24 has released the first trailer for Primetime, an upcoming drama starring Robert Pattinson that explores the origins of Chris Hansen’s To Catch a Predator. The film comes from filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, who was previously reported to be developing the project in 2024, when the story was described more broadly as following a journalist who enters a criminal underworld and changes television forever.

To Catch a Predator was the well-known true-crime segment featured on Dateline NBC, where Hansen worked with law enforcement and decoys posing as minors online to confront suspected child predators. The new teaser suggests Primetime will revisit the early days of that media phenomenon and the style Hansen made famous.

The trailer is presented in split screen and features Pattinson speaking in a manner reminiscent of Hansen’s on-camera confrontations. In the teaser, Hansen questions a subject with lines that echo the tense exchanges associated with To Catch a Predator, including remarks about accountability, consequences, and the pressure of being filmed. He also introduces himself as Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC, telling the subject they are “able to be a part of television history.”

The film’s exact perspective on Hansen and the show is not yet fully clear from the teaser, but the project appears likely to engage with the ethical controversy surrounding the program. A 2025 documentary, Predators, examined the moral concerns tied to the production of To Catch a Predator, and Primetime may follow a similarly critical angle. The teaser also suggests a tone similar to Nightcrawler, Dan Gilroy’s 2014 thriller about an ambitious and morally compromised Los Angeles stringer.

Alongside Pattinson, Primetime stars Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, and Phoebe Bridgers. The film is scheduled for theatrical release this fall, though A24 has not yet announced an official date.

Lance Oppenheim directed the movie from a screenplay by Ajon Singh. The producers include Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fred Berger, Robert Pattinson, Brighton McCloskey, Lars Knudsen, and Tyler Campellone.

The teaser marks the first public look at a film that blends true-crime history, media spectacle, and psychological tension. With Pattinson in the role of a television host modeled on one of the most recognizable figures in reality-based crime television, Primetime is shaping up to be a provocative look at the line between journalism, entertainment, and exploitation.