Update: Oct. 12
Amanda Knox responded to the news of her potential casting by saying she would have been game in a post on Instagram writing, “For the record, I would have done it and I would have killed it. Seriously, I already have my SAG card.”
Original story:
During a post-screening panel for A24’s thriller at the Directors Guild on Saturday, veteran casting director Francine Maisler revealed a wild early-development secret: director Lance Oppenheim initially floated the idea of casting Knox opposite Pattinson’s Chris Hansen. The role ultimately went to three-time Emmy winner Merritt Wever, who stars as ambitious producer Andie Bender, the architect of Hansen’s To Catch a Predator.
Discussing her longstanding collaboration with Wever, Maisler — whose past credits include 12 Years a Slave, The Revenant, and Sinners, for which she received an Oscar nomination — shared the surprising story with the audience:
“I’m going to tell a secret here. When I started this project, Rob was on the movie and before Merritt was cast, Lance brought up the idea of Amanda Knox. That’s how crazy this director is,” she said with a laugh. Maisler was joined on stage by fellow casting director Molly Rose, composer Ari Balouzian, and cinematographer David Bolen, with Oppenheim, Pattinson, and Wever joining virtually from London.
Oppenheim confirmed the story, admitting, “Yes, there was a period of time that I would call Francine and I would drive her literally insane with just some very off the wall ideas.”
Maisler noted her immediate aversion to the suggestion: “And I said, ‘Don’t ever say that again.'”
Knox was the subject of international headlines when she was controversially convicted of murdering her roommate in Italy. She was ultimately acquitted and has since become an author, stand-up comic, and podcaster.
Maisler also reflected on working with Wever, championing the actor’s work: “I think she is extraordinary in this film. I think she deserves so much more attention for every piece of work she’s done,” Maisler said. Merritt currently sits at No. 12 in the Gold Derby odds, in what is shaping up to be a stacked race for Best Supporting Actress.
Robert Pattinson in PrimetimeA24
Inspired by the sensationalized era of reality-television sting operations and To Catch a Predator, Primetime marks Oppenheim’s jump into narrative features. During the panel discussion, the creative team pulled back the curtain on the film’s frenetic production process and non-traditional approach to narrative storytelling.
Oppenheim recalled pitching early notes Pattinson who is also a producer on the film. “I remember the second week of production, he asked how he felt like it was going and I was like, ‘I feel like you’ve gotten the Chris Hansen part really good … but I also feel like you’re doing Jerry Maguire and Dracula.'”
“And I thought I was doing Mel Gibson and Braveheart,” replied Pattinson, who is in the Gold Derby Top 5 for Best Actor.
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LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 16: Leo Woodall attends the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2022 at The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park on November 16, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
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January 9th 2020 – Celebrities donate time and money to Australia bushfire relief efforts. Actor Russell Crowe donated $105,000 to the NSW Rural Fire Service in November 2019 to assist in the bushfire relief effort. – File Photo by: zz/DP/AAD/STAR MAX/IPx 2016 5/15/16 Russell Crowe at “The Nice Guys” photocall during the 69th Cannes Film Festival in France.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 31: Austin Abrams attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema’s “Weapons” at The United Theater on Broadway on July 31, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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Despite calling his first narrative feature a “fever dream,” Oppenheim said he treated the set like a documentary. “We really, really tried to keep things carbonated and chaotic. And that’s really what the movie’s about too. It’s about a production crew that’s kind of going off the rails.”
Pattinson found the experience liberating. “I didn’t have any fear of trying anything,” he said. “Besides, I was the producer. Who was going to tell me no?”