{"id":6327,"date":"2026-08-21T04:10:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T04:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6327"},"modified":"2026-08-21T04:10:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T04:10:46","slug":"chris-hansen-says-he-refused-to-sign-his-rights-away-in-order-to-screen-robert-pattinsons-primetime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6327","title":{"rendered":"Chris Hansen Says He Refused to Sign His Rights Away in Order to Screen Robert Pattinson\u2019s \u2018Primetime\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\nChris Hansen didn\u2019t get to take a seat for the new A24 movie \u201cPrimetime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe 66-year-old veteran journalist went to the offices of indie distributor A24 to watch the Lance Oppenheim film, in which he is played by Robert Pattinson, before it bows at the Venice Film Festival. But he left without seeing it.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6325\">The Hollies Officially Call It Quits, as Last Two Members of Classic 1960s Lineup Retire After Being in Band for 63 Years<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe former \u201cTo Catch a Predator\u201d host went on Fox News\u2019 \u201cJesse Watters Primetime\u201d to say he showed up at the studio\u2019s offices for a 10 a.m. private screening of \u201cPrimetime\u201d on Thursday. The Pattinson-led drama is built around Hansen\u2019s run atop the hidden-camera franchise. But Hansen claims he walked away after refusing to sign a legal agreement he describes as unlike anything he has encountered in four decades on the beat.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tA source close to A24 said Hansen was asked to sign a standard NDA that all preview audiences must adhere to for an unreleased film \u2014 mostly to prevent spoilers and protect the studio\u2019s IP.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cThe 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,\u201d Hansen claimed during the appearance. \u201cI couldn\u2019t sign that, so they didn\u2019t show me the film. I went all the way over there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tPressed by Watters on whether he walked in without legal cover, Hansen says his attorneys had already reviewed the paperwork and advised against signing. \u201cOf course not,\u201d he says when asked if he put his name to anything without a lawyer present. \u201cThis was a very restrictive agreement. I\u2019ve never seen anything quite like it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe agreement Hansen describes would be a much larger legal matter than a standard screening NDA, and would not be asked of other individuals screening the film \u2014 including press and third-party marketing agencies.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe account marks a sharp turn from where Hansen left things only days earlier. Speaking on the \u201cSerialously With Annie Elise\u201d podcast, he said A24 was setting him up with a private screening \u201cin the next week or so,\u201d after which he would render a verdict on the film and how he felt about the depiction of his career. <\/p>\n<p>\n\tHansen says he cannot say what the studio might be worried about, because he still has not watched a minute of the picture. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen the film,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you look at the trailer, obviously it\u2019s a very dramatized version. They had told me that it\u2019s fictionalized in many aspects. I know other people have seen it who didn\u2019t sign an NDA, and yet they wanted me to sign it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6323\">Prime Video Unveils Landmark $2 Billion-Plus Investment in Latin American Entertainment<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn the trailer and other marketing materials for the film, the indie distributor has labeled \u201cPrimetime\u201d as \u201cinspired by true events\u201d and has not characterized it as a biopic of Hansen or his life. <\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe film is written by Ajon Singh, one of Variety\u2019s 10 Screenwriters to Watch from 2025, and is inspired by \u201cTonight on Dateline This Man Will Die\u201d by Luke Dittrich. <\/p>\n<p>\n\tHansen is careful to note he is not chasing a payday. \u201cI have no financial stake in this film,\u201d he says, adding that no one from the production paid him or brought him aboard as a consultant. He learned the movie existed, he says, the way he has learned most things across a long career. \u201cI\u2019m just a working reporter, and I\u2019m not learned in the sophisticated ways of Hollywood. But I find stuff out,\u201d Hansen says. \u201cI\u2019ve been an investigative reporter for four decades, so I knew this was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHis frustration, he suggests, is less about the film than the timing of the outreach. \u201cI get a call today saying, \u2018Well, you know, everybody\u2019s concerned. They want you to be happy with the film,&#8217;\u201d Hansen says. \u201cWell, then why didn\u2019t you tell me about it when you started shooting the film?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cPrimetime\u201d opens in theaters Sept. 25 following its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Directed by Oppenheim in his narrative feature debut and written by Ajon Singh, the movie follows Hansen in 2006 as \u201cTo Catch a Predator\u201d makes the leap from \u201cDateline NBC\u201d segment to its own primetime block. Pattinson stars and produces through his Icki Eneo Arlo banner, with a supporting cast that includes Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers and Bokeem Woodbine. Former NBCUniversal chief Jeff Zucker appears as himself.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cTo Catch a Predator\u201d ran from 2004 to 2007 as a recurring \u201cDateline NBC\u201d investigation, pairing Hansen and a camera crew with decoys posing as minors to confront men who arrived at sting houses. The franchise was canceled after a 2006 Texas operation in which Rockwall County assistant district attorney Louis Conradt died by suicide as authorities and the show\u2019s crew closed in on his home.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tFor now, it looks like Hansen will have to see the movie the way the rest of the country will, with a paid theater ticket. Asked what he would say to Pattinson, he reaches, inevitably, for the line that made him famous. \u201cTake a seat right over there,\u201d Hansen says.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6321\">How \u2018Star Trek: Strange New Worlds\u2019 Pulled Off That Madcap Puppet Episode<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tA24 declined to comment.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h5>\n\t\tSee all Academy Awards predictions\t<\/h5>\n<p>\n<span><br \/>Variety Awards Circuit: Oscars<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chris Hansen says he went to A24 to watch Robert Pattinson&#8217;s &#8220;Primetime&#8221; but left without seeing it after refusing to sign an NDA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1041,4385,4900,4901],"class_list":["post-6327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-a24","tag-chris-hansen","tag-primetime","tag-robert-pattinson-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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