Chris Hansen has criticized Primetime, the new film in which Robert Pattinson plays the veteran journalist, calling it an “insult” and a “complete work of fiction.”
The movie dramatizes the making of To Catch a Predator, which aired on NBC in the 2000s and drew a large audience for its televised sting operations, in which Hansen came face-to-face with men who believed they were meeting minors for sex. The program faced legal and ethical scrutiny and ended after just 20 episodes.
Hansen told The Hollywood Reporter that the filmmakers behind Primetime did “not contact or consult” him about his portrayal in the movie, which premiered Sept. 5 at the Venice Film Festival.
The broadcaster said it was not “surprising that a Hollywood studio would act in such an exploitative or predatory manner,” but said he had not yet watched the movie, which is scheduled to open in theaters Sept. 25.
He said, “There wouldn’t be a movie if I hadn’t created the Predator investigative series, so that would not be possible without my work. Robert Pattinson has said that he hopes the movie adds to my legacy, and I appreciate that.
“But you still have something that is a complete work of fiction attached to a real name. Based upon what I’ve seen in the trailer and my understanding of what has been written about the film, they wanted to create something much darker and way more dramatic.
“I think it’s an insult to the thousands of men and women who work hard every day to protect children from predators. They turn something that is very positive, very challenging and not without risk into what is essentially a horror film.”
Hansen said he was not “angry” about the movie and had “no issue” with Pattinson, calling him “a great actor and a nice guy.”
Pattinson has received Oscar buzz for his portrayal of the journalist.
(A24)
Speaking during a press conference for the film, Pattinson called Hansen’s presence “magnetic” and said he watched the show when he was younger. He added, “Obviously, I hope he likes the movie. There’s something electrifying about him. I would hope the amount of inspiration his character has given a lot of people for years is some kind of compliment.”
The film received a 7-minute standing ovation at its premiere and has an early score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes from 32 reviews. Pattinson is being considered a contender for his first Academy Award for the role, with Vulture arguing that “the Oscar race will be far more exciting, and far more weird, if Pattinson’s in it.”
Hansen previously criticized the use of his likeness and image in events that he says never took place in real life. He said some elements potentially portray him — and others — unfairly in a negative light. Speaking on SiriusXM in August after watching the trailer, he said, “It’s overly dramatic… How could they tell the story without having talked to anybody who was directly involved?”
He added, “The conversations you heard in the trailer never took place in real life.”
Hansen told Fox News that he was invited to an advance screening of the film but refused to sign what he described as a “very restrictive agreement” with the studio A24. As a consequence, he said the studio told him he would not be able to watch it before its release.
“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,” he said. “I couldn’t sign that, so they didn’t show me the film… Who’s gonna sign something like that?”
Sources close to Hansen told The Hollywood Reporter that he was consulting attorneys about whether to take further action.
A24 declined to comment. A source familiar with the matter said Hansen was asked to sign a standard nondisclosure agreement before seeing Primetime, but that it did not require him to waive rights to his name, image or brand. Hansen did not sign the agreement and therefore did not see the film, they said.
In August, The Hollywood Reporter also reported that Hansen had purchased preshow advertising on every screen showing the film, turning the movie into a promotional opportunity.
The commercial promotes Hansen’s streaming service TruBlu, which focuses on true-crime programming and predator investigations. In the clip, the broadcaster says, “I’m going to need everyone in the theater to take a seat right over there,” a reference to a signature line from To Catch a Predator.
Shawn Rech, president of TruBlu, told Entertainment Weekly the ad was “an opportunity to reach a very concentrated group of people who either know Chris or are going to know some version of Chris.”
To Catch a Predator was canceled in 2008 amid fallout from a Texas sting involving a man who died by suicide. Hansen said in 2015 that the show had run its course, telling Time, “At the end of the day, we had proved our point.”
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