A24 has released the full trailer for Primetime, a drama starring Robert Pattinson as the former Dateline NBC presenter Chris Hansen, ahead of a cinema release on 25 September.
The film is the narrative feature debut of Lance Oppenheim, a documentary maker whose credits include Some Kind of Heaven and the HBO series Ren Faire. It works from a script by Ajon Singh.
What is the film about?
The logline places it in 2006, as Hansen sets out to make television history. Variety described it as a drama-thriller covering a significant chapter in the history of the programme.
To Catch a Predator ran as a recurring Dateline NBC segment from 2004 to 2007, working with the group Perverted Justice to arrange encounters that were filmed and followed by arrests.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Release | 25 September 2026 |
| Director | Lance Oppenheim |
| Distributor | A24 |
| Lead | Robert Pattinson |
What is the film Primetime about?
Primetime is a drama film distributed by A24 and scheduled for theatrical release on 25 September 2026. Robert Pattinson plays Chris Hansen, presenter of the Dateline NBC segment To Catch a Predator, in a story set in 2006. The film is directed by Lance Oppenheim in his narrative feature debut, from a script by Ajon Singh, and Pattinson is among its producers. The supporting cast includes Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Anna Faris, Matthew Maher, Bokeem Woodbine and the musician Phoebe Bridgers. Former NBCUniversal chief executive Jeff Zucker appears as himself. A24 released a teaser in May 2026 and the full trailer on 6 August. To Catch a Predator ran from 2004 to 2007 and was discontinued following legal and ethical controversy.
Who else appears?
The supporting cast includes Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Anna Faris as Hansen’s wife, Matthew Maher, Bokeem Woodbine and the musician Phoebe Bridgers. Pattinson is also among the producers.
The Hollywood Reporter noted that former NBCUniversal chief executive Jeff Zucker appears as himself in a role centred on the programme’s move to primetime scheduling.
How is the subject being handled?
Trade reviews of the trailer suggest the film takes a critical view of its subject. Several noted that Pattinson plays Hansen as a figure pursuing television success rather than as a straightforward hero.
The programme was discontinued after legal and ethical fallout. Dateline faced a substantial lawsuit following the death of a Texas prosecutor who took his own life as police and the programme’s crew arrived at his home in November 2006.
A 2025 documentary, Predators, examined the same territory. Hansen has since presented several successor programmes.
Where it sits in Pattinson’s year
The role lands in an unusually crowded twelve months for the actor. He appears as Antinous in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, currently on course to become Nolan’s second-highest grossing film in North America, and has a part in Dune Part 3 later this year.
Primetime is a Range Media, Icki Eneo Arlo and Square Peg production. Producers include Pattinson, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fred Berger, Brighton McCloskey, Tyler Campellone and Lars Knudsen. Cinematography is by David Bolen.
A24 released a poster alongside the trailer.
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Sources for this report
The Redline News Desk
The Redline News desk files and edits world reporting. Every story carries the sources it was built from, and corrections are published on the story itself.
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