Robert Pattinson takes on a notorious true story in the first Primetime trailer

A24 officially dropped the first trailer of Robert Pattinson's new film, Primetime. The movie will be released in theaters on September 25 this year, starring Robert Pattinson in the role of Chris Hansen.

Primetime revisits the journey of the longtime host of NBC’s To Catch a Predator, Christopher Edward Hansen. In the film, he enters the criminal world in an unusual way, changing his life along with the entire TV industry. The motion picture highlights how one man's crime investigation reshaped the media industry forever.

It further portrays Hansen as he is at the height of the show’s popularity. At this point, it becomes more complicated because some people think it went too far, shifting from a public service into something closer to tabloid drama. It also raises the bigger question of how far TV producers are willing to go to chase the next big story.

Continue reading more about Primetime.

The first Primetime trailer spotlights Robert Pattinson in a gripping true story

The trailer for Primetime begins with a familiar television sting operation inside a room where Chris Hansen confronts someone who came to meet a teenager. Hansen starts talking to the person while walking down the stairs. When the person wants to know Hansen's identity, he says,

"I'm Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC and we're doing a story on adults who try to meet teens online."

At first, the moment seems like a direct parody of the infamous investigative show, but the illusion quickly breaks as it becomes clear that this is a dramatized television production rather than a real broadcast. A man named Dan Plumb appears in the trailer and says that he doesn't know what he is auditioning for. An instant later, the trailer reveals that Dan is going to meet a 13-year-old girl.

The production grows more intense as the showrunner drives the actors and crew far past the usual limits of television. His rhetoric shifts from entertainment to a moral crusade as he speaks of cleansing the world of evil rather than simply putting on a performance.

This escalation transforms the tone into a dark psychological thriller where the line between performance and reality dissolves. By the end, the trailer shows a terrifying descent into chaos, where the people involved can’t tell if they are chasing their acting dreams or facing real danger.

Who is Jeff Zucker?

A moment from Primetime (Image via YouTube/@A24)

The trailer shows former NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker. He first appears in a voiceover, where he tells Hansen,

"I don’t like your show, but America loves it! So I need to move you. To Catch A Predator 9 p.m. primetime."

The following scene shows Hansen in the hallway of the station, where he raises his fists in excitement and shouts aloud.

"I’ll be bigger than Lost!"

To Catch a Predator is a true-crime series produced by Dateline NBC. The show features Hansen working as a journalist to expose suspected child predators with the help of law enforcement. He also uses decoys who pretend to be minors in online conversations.