Chris Hansen Says He May Have “A Decent Case” Against A24’s Robert Pattinson Movie About Him

Hollywood’s ongoing fascination with true stories has always walked a delicate line, especially when the real people behind those stories are still around to weigh in on how they’re portrayed. That tension tends to boil over the closer a film gets to release, and this latest example is proving no exception.

As one of A24’s most anticipated fall releases inches closer to theaters, the real-life figure at its center is now openly weighing whether to take the studio to court over how his story is being told.

Chris Hansen recently revealed he received legal advice suggesting he could have “a decent case” against A24’s upcoming film ‘Primetime,’ though he says he doesn’t want to give the Lance Oppenheim-directed thriller free publicity by pursuing it too loudly. Speaking on SiriusXM’s The Dan Abrams Show, the former ‘To Catch a Predator’ host explained that a lawyer well-versed in entertainment law told him directly that legal action was possible, though he remains uncertain whether it’s worth pursuing.

According to Deadline, Hansen expressed concern that protesting too loudly could backfire, potentially turning the film into “the movie Chris Hansen doesn’t want you to see,” a framing he acknowledged would be somewhat misleading given that he hadn’t actually seen the finished film at the time of his comments. Still, he didn’t hold back on his broader frustrations with how the project came together, saying, “It feels very exploitive to me. It feels sneaky and disingenuous to me that they would do this and not even say, ‘This is what we’re doing.'”

A Dispute That Goes Beyond Just Tone

‘Primetime,’ starring Robert Pattinson as Hansen, dramatizes the making of NBC’s ‘To Catch a Predator,’ the hidden-camera series that ran from 2004 to 2007 and turned Hansen into one of television’s most recognizable and polarizing media figures. The film’s trailer has teased a considerably darker interpretation of Hansen’s on-screen persona, portraying him as more of a ratings-driven opportunist than the crusading journalist he’s positioned himself as in the years since the show ended.

Hansen’s objections extend well beyond the film’s tone alone. He’s specifically pointed to A24’s use of his name, along with the names of colleagues and family members, in what he understands to be a substantially fictionalized retelling of events, arguing he was never directly informed the studio was making the film at all. Adding to the friction, Hansen previously claimed on Fox News that he was asked to sign what he described as “a very restrictive agreement” in order to attend an advance screening, one that would have required him to sign away rights to his name, image, and brand, along with any potential legal claims tied to the film.

That screening invitation also came with its own complications. Hansen reportedly wanted to run a commercial before showings promoting his true-crime streaming network TruBlu, including a line reminding audiences that ‘Primetime’ represented “a Hollywood fantasy version” of real events, but the line was ultimately cut due to concerns over how A24 might respond.

Directed by Lance Oppenheim, ‘Primetime’ is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month, where it will compete for the Golden Lion, before opening in theaters on September 25. A representative for A24 has declined to comment on Hansen’s latest remarks.

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