Audiences going to see A24’s Primetime will now get an extra dose of Chris Hansen. The new film has Robert Pattinson playing the former To Catch a Predator host. Now, Hansen has bought ad space before every showing of the film to promote his streaming network TruBlu.
In the new ad, Hansen is, of course, in a kitchen. “I’m going to need everyone in the theater to take a seat right over there,” he says. “Now there are more platforms than ever before where this disturbing crime is being committed…Join us undercover every day on my streaming network, TruBlu.”
A QR code on screen directs audiences to the network, which hosts investigations like To Catch a Predator alongside other true-crime content.
However, this ad shouldn’t be taken as Hansen endorsing the film. He already said he skipped a private screening at the studio’s offices. “The lawyers at A24 wanted me to sign away my rights to my name, image and brand essentially, as well as any potential legal rights that would come out of the movie,” he claimed on Jesse Watters Primetime. “I couldn’t sign that, so they didn’t show me the film. I went all the way over there.” There are now even reports that he is consulting with attorneys. As well as claims that a line warning audiences that Primetime is “a Hollywood fantasy version” of what happened was removed
Primetime is directed by Lance Oppenheim, from a script by Ajon Singh. It stars Pattinson alongside Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher, and Bokeem Woodbine. The film tells the story of the rise of NBC’s To Catch a Predator through to the series’ dark demise (discussed below the trailer).
To Catch a Predator
To Catch a Predator ran from 2004 to 2007 as part of Deadline NBC. The show partnered with watchdog group Perverted Justice to lure predators by having them speak to adults online posing as minors. Once the trap was set, these “kids” would invite the would-be predator over. There they would meet Hansen and local law enforcement to answer questions about why a grown adult is talking (often explicitly) to a minor. This would always lead to questioning why the adult was there to meet a child to begin with.
The show was as controversial as it was successful, and not just because of how reviled adults who prey on minors are. There were accusations of entrapment due to the sting operations. There is also always a serious moral grey area when blending real law enforcement operations with entertainment.
Primetime hits theaters on September 25th. You can check out the trailer below:
Warning: the section below contains mentions of suicide. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know is suffering from a mental health crisis, please reach out to 788 Lifeline. Help is available.
The End of The Series
Officially, the show ended because it had “proved our point,” according to Hansen. However, shortly before it was canceled, Texas prosecutor Bill Conradt had been exchanging images with a decoy claiming to be 13-years-old online. While he was invited to a sting house in Murphy, Texas, he decided not to go.
Police and the To Catch a Predator crew decided to get an arrest warrant and go to Conradt’s home. As soon as they entered his home, Conradt shot himself. He was airlifted to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His sister, Patricia Conradt, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against NBC for $109 million which was settled out of court. “The matter has been amicably resolved to the satisfaction of both parties,” her lawyer said at the time.
Walt Weiss, a former detective for the Murphy Police Department, was involved in and has since apologized for Conradt’s sting. “They went over there and did that at that house because it would do something for the show, not something for society, not something in the interest of law enforcement. And the role that I played in it, that’s a stain on my soul that I’m gonna live with if I’m any kind of a human being at all. I could’ve shut that thing down,” Weiss said in the 2025 documentary Predators. “At least that part of it, just simply by walking out the back door and going to see somebody.”
Hansen & Primetime
Considering all of this, it’s no wonder that Hansen may be leery about how he is portrayed in the new film. Depending on how the cast and crew of Primetime decide to depict the botched arrest, it could sway the court of public opinion on how culpable Hansen was for Conradt’s death. For now, he is choosing to capitalise on the renewed attention and funnel traffic to his current project. Only time will tell if Primetime goes far enough for Hansen to pursue legal action.
If you or someone you know is suffering from a mental health crisis, please reach out to 788 Lifeline. Help is available.
