Chris Hansen, the former host and face of the controversial television show "To Catch a Predator," has expressed strong disapproval of the upcoming film "Primetime," which stars Robert Pattinson as Hansen. Hansen claims the movie, slated for release on September 25, presents an inaccurate and overly dark fictionalization of his life and work.
"The reality is, the studio and the director set out to make a completely dark work of fiction," Hansen told The Post in an exclusive interview. "It is an insult… I am disappointed that a Hollywood studio would take something that has accomplished so much good and twist it into something that’s evil and overly dramatic."
Hansen, who has viewed the film's trailer but not the full movie, cited scenes depicting Pattinson's Hansen gloating and acting erratically as examples of fabricated content. "Nothing in the trailer ever happened in real life," Hansen asserted. He currently hosts "Takedown with Chris Hansen" on his TruBlu streaming service, a show in a similar style to "Predator."
The film draws in part from a 2007 Esquire article titled "Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die," which focused on the suicide of Louis Conradt, an assistant district attorney from Texas, who died as his arrest was being filmed for "Predator." Hansen defended the airing of that segment, stating that Conradt was an adult who engaged in sexually explicit conversations with minors during a police sting operation and did not wish to face the consequences of his actions.
"To Catch a Predator" ran from 2004 to 2007 as part of "Dateline." The show cooperated with police departments and used decoys in online chat rooms to lure adults seeking sexual liaisons with minors. When suspects met the decoys, they were confronted by Hansen and law enforcement. The show's popularity led NBC executive Jeff Zucker to make the segments a recurring feature.
Hansen stated that the filmmakers behind "Primetime" did not consult him. He was unable to sign a non-disclosure agreement presented by the production company, A24, due to a clause that would indemnify them from legal action. "I couldn’t sign it in its form," Hansen said. He expressed suspicion about the lack of direct input from him, a "live person," during the film's production.
Despite his criticisms, Hansen plans to see the movie in a theater and harbors no ill will toward Robert Pattinson. Jeff Zucker, who appears as himself in the film, confirmed to Variety that a scene depicting him and Pattinson's Hansen never occurred, stating, "The scene in which I play myself never happened."
Initially, Hansen and his colleague Shawn Rech, co-founder of TruBlu, had a different expectation for the film, believing it might be a psychological thriller about Hansen being held captive. Rech noted, "We got early word that the script was going to be about a predator kidnapping Chris. It would be a psychological movie, with Chris in some guy’s basement, and having to talk his way out. That sounded like a cool movie."
To capitalize on the film's release, TruBlu will run a commercial before showings of "Primetime." Hansen is currently continuing his sting operations in cooperation with law enforcement and has not ruled out legal action after seeing the final film.