Chris Hansen Walked Out of His Own Screening: A24 Asked Him to Sign Away His Rights First
Chris Hansen arrived at A24's offices for a private screening of Primetime — a film in which Robert Pattinson plays him — and left without seeing a single frame. The reason, Hansen says, was a legal agreement the studio asked him to sign first.
Hansen recounted the episode on Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime, explaining that he showed up at 10 a.m. on a Thursday for the screening but walked out after refusing to sign the paperwork A24's lawyers put in front of him. According to Hansen, the agreement would have required him to sign away rights to his name, image and brand, as well as any potential legal claims arising from the film. His own attorneys reviewed the documents and advised against signing. Variety
Primetime is directed by Lance Oppenheim and written by Ajon Singh, drawing inspiration from "Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die," a long-form article by Luke Dittrich. Hansen has no financial stake in the production, received no payment, and was never brought on as a consultant. Variety
The film is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival. A24 has released a trailer showing Pattinson in the role of Hansen, and IndieWire's coverage of that trailer described the project as a Chris Hansen biopic. A24 itself, however, labels Primetime as "inspired by true events" in its marketing and has not called it a biopic. IndieWire
That gap matters. A film marketed as "inspired by true events" carries different creative and legal expectations than one explicitly branded as a biopic — a dramatised account of a real person's life. Hansen's refusal to sign the agreement means he heads into the Venice premiere without having watched the film, and without having waived any legal options regarding how his name and likeness are used on screen.
For audiences, the dispute offers a rare glimpse at the mechanics behind prestige film releases. Studios screening a film for a living subject — the real person whose story a film draws from — is not standard practice, but it does happen, often accompanied by legal paperwork designed to head off future disputes. Hansen's account makes clear that in this case, subject and studio could not agree on terms.
A24 has not publicly responded to Hansen's account of the screening. The film's Venice premiere will be the first time the wider public sees what Oppenheim and Pattinson have made — whether Hansen himself will eventually watch it remains an open question.
