Robert Pattinson Plays Chris Hansen in A24's Primetime
Robert Pattinson plays television presenter Chris Hansen in Primetime, the A24 film by director Lance Oppenheim that opened in the United States on the Friday noted in a Deadline interview published 28 September.
Merritt Wever co-stars as Andie Bender, Hansen’s producer. Bender is a fictional character. Skyler Gisondo plays Decoy Dan, described as the underage-looking catfish. The script is by Ajon Singh, according to the same Deadline interview.
Wever told Deadline she watched To Catch a Predator when it was first on television. The film centres on Hansen, the presenter behind that programme. No other backstory is needed. Viewers who remember the broadcast will recognise the name at once.
Primetime had its world premiere at the 2026 Venice Film Festival, as recorded in Deadline’s festival gallery. It debuted with a screening inside the Sala Grande on a Saturday night, reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The festival listed it in the Venezia 83 Competition section, in a programme dated 5 September. Its running time is 110 minutes.
The project has been in public view for two years. Deadline first reported on Primetime in 2024, and a first trailer was released in August 2026, according to Deadline’s trailer coverage. Oppenheim was at that point associated with Ren Faire, his documentary series about the Texas Renaissance Festival.
What makes this stand out is the mix of real and invented. Hansen is a public figure. Bender and Decoy Dan are creations for the film. For fans, this means a familiar television story told through new eyes, with Wever’s producer placed beside Pattinson’s host at the centre of the action.
