The veteran journalist is portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the upcoming film. A source disputes he was asked to sign away his rights.

Chris Hansen says he did not watch* Primetime *because he didn’t want to ‘sign away my rights’ at screening

The veteran journalist is portrayed by Robert Pattinson in the upcoming film. A source disputes he was asked to sign away his rights.

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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August 21, 2026 12:32 p.m. ET

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Chris Hansen; Robert Pattinson in ‘Primetime’. Credit:

Mireya Acierto/FilmMagic; A24

- Chris Hansen alleged that A24, the studio behind *Primetime*, “wanted me to sign away my rights to my name, image, and brand” along with any “potential legal rights that would come out of the movie.”

- The movie stars Robert Pattinson as the veteran journalist during his years hosting *To Catch a Predator*.

- *Primetime *hits theaters on Sept. 25.

Chris Hansen made a surprising claim about why he wouldn’t watch an early screening of *Primetime**.*

The upcoming A24 film starring Robert Pattinson as Hansen and directed by Lance Oppenheim depicts the veteran journalist during his run on the 2000s program *To Catch a Predator*. Earlier this week, Hansen said he was going to see the movie at a private screening. However, on Thursday’s episode of Fox News’ *Jesse Watters Primetime*, Hansen shared that he did not see the film that morning, and revealed why.

“The 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,” Hansen claimed on the show. A source disputes his account.

The *Dateline** *journalist added, “I couldn’t sign that, so they didn’t show me the film. I went all the way over there. … But who’s going to sign something like that?”

Desiree Navarro/WireImage

Hansen claimed it was a “very restrictive agreement,” adding that he “had never seen anything quite like it.” He also noted that his “lawyers had already seen” the NDA before he went to the screening at A24’s office.

Asked what A24 would be worried about, Hansen said, “I don’t know.”

“If you look at the trailer, obviously it’s a very dramatized version. They had told me that it’s fictionalized in many aspects. I know other people have seen it who didn’t sign an NDA, and yet they wanted me to sign it,” concluded Hansen.

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A source told ** that Hansen was asked to sign an NDA a week in advance that all preview audiences are required to sign ahead of screening an unreleased film. These standard NDAs are mostly to prevent spoilers and protect the studio’s IP.

Because Hansen didn’t sign the release form, he could not see the film, per the source.

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*To Catch a Predator*, which is dramatized in the upcoming thriller film, started out as a *Dateline *sting segment and ran as a wildly popular program from 2003 to 2007 on NBC.

The series was controversial for how it captured alleged pedophiles, using a hidden camera and adults posing as teenagers online to lure the suspected predators into a sting house, where they would be captured on the spot. It blurred the line between entertainment and reporting the news, raising questions over the program’s ethics.

Hansen previously told Annie Elise on the *Serialously* podcast that he was familiar with Pattinson and Oppenheim, but questioned *Primetime*’s motives. “I know that he’s a very popular actor. I know that the director is a popular guy,” he said. “But I also have some questions: what’s Hollywood’s motive here? We don’t know, but I’ll find out, and I promise I’ll let you know.”

‘Primetime’ poster.

Besides Pattinson, *Primetime* stars Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Matthew Maher, Anna Faris, Phoebe Bridgers, Alex Winter, Creed Bratton, and Bokeem Woodbine.

*Primetime *will make its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival before hitting theaters on Sept. 25.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Drama”