Moviegoers heading to see Robert Pattinson portray former 'Dateline NBC' correspondent Chris Hansen in A24's 'Primetime' will encounter the real Hansen before the film even starts. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hansen has purchased preshow advertising on every screen showing the film, directing audiences to TruBlu, his streaming network dedicated to the kind of predator-sting investigations that made him a household name.
'Primetime' opens Sept. 25 following its world premiere on Sept. 5 at the Venice International Film Festival. Directed by Lance Oppenheim, the film is a dark take on Hansen's signature method of luring suspected sex predators into nondescript suburban kitchens before confronting them on camera. It's based on Luke Dittrich's 2007 Esquire article "Tonight on Dateline, This Man Will Die," which chronicles the suicide of Bill Conradt, a Texas district attorney who allegedly attempted to solicit sex from a minor and became the target of one of Hansen's televised sting operations.
Hansen has said on podcasts and on Jesse Watters' Fox News program that he turned down an invitation to view the film because doing so would have required signing an agreement barring him from taking legal action against A24. Sources close to Hansen tell THR he is now consulting attorneys about his options following the film's release.
In the ad, shared exclusively with THR, Hansen appears in a familiar setting — a kitchen — and delivers his own spin on his signature catchphrase: "I'm going to need everyone in the theater to take a seat right over there." He continues, "Now there are more platforms than ever before where this disturbing crime is being committed. Join us undercover every day on my streaming network, TruBlu." A QR code in the spot sends viewers to a landing page for TruBlu, which streams ongoing predator investigations and other true-crime programming.
Sources say Hansen had wanted to close the ad by telling audiences that what they were about to watch in 'Primetime' was "a Hollywood fantasy version" of the real events, but the line was cut over concerns it could provoke pushback from A24.
Photo: Carlosamato, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
