Robert Pattinson is set to portray real-life paedophile hunter Chris Hansen in the upcoming A24 film Primetime, a project that has already sparked controversy due to its subject matter and the reactions of the man it depicts. The 40-year-old British actor, known for his roles in The Drama alongside Zendaya and as the villainous Antinous in Sir Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, is adding this ambitious role to a busy blockbuster year.
Primetime is scheduled to premiere at this year's Venice Film Festival. A teaser featuring Pattinson's dark portrayal of Hansen, 66, has already been dubbed 'trailer of the year' by some critics. The film focuses on NBC and Hansen's mission to make history with the controversial reality show To Catch a Predator.
What Was To Catch a Predator About?
The premise of To Catch a Predator was to air real-life footage of adults attempting to engage in sexual activities with children below the age of 16. The show featured stings, confrontations, and arrests, all hosted by Dateline NBC presenter Hansen.
Producers collaborated with the online watchdog group Perverted-Justice to pose as underage children in chat rooms. Suspected sexual predators would then arrive at a fake property, where adult decoys would interact with them before Hansen confronted them with his infamous line: 'Why don't you have a seat right there?' Suspects would often argue their case or flee the scene, only to be arrested by local law enforcement waiting outside.
Premiering in November 2004, the show was a huge success at the time, drawing ratings of 7,000,000 per episode and becoming a cultural phenomenon across America.
Why Was It Cancelled?
The programme aired just 20 episodes between 2004 and 2007 but was cancelled in 2008 following the suicide of Bill Conradt. Conradt, 56, was an assistant district attorney in Rockwall County, Texas, accused of exchanging messages with a Perverted-Justice decoy posing as a 13-year-old boy.
A sting had been operating for weeks before Conradt stopped online communication, making it clear he wouldn't travel to an intended meet-up. For the first time on the show, producers decided to take the sting to the suspect's home, with an arrest warrant issued on the day. Hansen, a television crew, and a seven-man SWAT team arrived at Conradt's house, forcing open a sliding-glass door to confront him. He was seen standing in the hallway, declaring 'I'm not gonna hurt anybody,' before shooting himself.
Conradt's estate, managed by his sister Patricia, sued Dateline for $105 million. The case was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum. Following the incident, the show attracted criticism for 'making news, rather than reporting news' and for 'blurring the lines of being a news organisation versus an agency of law enforcement.'
Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker said of the show: 'When a TV show makes you feel sorry for potential child-rapists, you know it's doing something wrong,' adding that it 'had a whiff of entrapment.' Hansen has insisted the show was not cancelled because of Conradt's suicide, instead suggesting it had simply 'run its course.'
Since being taken off air, the show has been rebooted twice: first as Hansen vs Predator, and later as a spin-off called Takedown with Chris Hansen, which aired on the TruBlu streaming network, a true crime network he co-founded.
What Has Chris Hansen Said About Primetime?
Hansen does not appear to be taking the news of Primetime's release well, saying the upcoming film is 'totally made up.' 'And that's the part of this that the public needs to know, is that this is a work of fiction,' he told Entertainment Tonight.
However, it wasn't all criticism, as the presenter added that Pattinson does a 'pretty good imitation' of him in the trailer. He has yet to watch the film, claiming 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.' 'I couldn't sign that, so they didn't show me the film. I went all the way over there.'
A source close to A24 said the NDA Hansen was asked to sign is the same that every preview audience must adhere to for an unreleased project. The controversy surrounding the film and its subject matter is likely to continue as Primetime premieres at the Venice Film Festival, with Hansen's objections adding a layer of real-world tension to the release.
