Robert Pattinson follows highly-memed The Odyssey performance with "gripping" new film role as moody first-look trailer drops

The star plays To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen in the upcoming true story drama Primetime.

Robert Pattinson in Primetime

A24

Published: Thursday, 6 August 2026 at 3:06 pm

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It's already been something of a banner year for Robert Pattinson, what with his key roles in both The Drama and The Odyssey, and now the first trailer has dropped for another intriguing new film led by the former Twilight star.

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Pattinson – who will, of course, also have a key role in Dune: Part Three before the year is out – is the star of Primetime, the narrative feature debut from acclaimed documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim.

The film will see him take on the role of Chris Hansen, the host of To Catch A Predator, the notorious former US reality series which also served as the subject of the acclaimed documentary Predators last year.

In the trailer, we see reenactments of some of the familiar scenes from that show, in which real-life predators were tricked into believing they were about to meet underage people, unaware that they were being filmed on hidden cameras and would subsequently be arrested.

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"Big night planned?" Pattinson's Hansen asks one of the predators as he walks down a staircase. "Why don't you have a seat right there?"

He continues: "I'm Chris Hanson with Dateline NBC, and we're doing a story on adults who try to meet teens online. You see how this looks, right?"

Throughout the trailer we also get a look at some of the other cast members including Skyler Gisondo, who stars as one of the "decoys" (young actors who were made to look like teens for the show), and musician Phoebe Bridgers, who is making her acting debut.

"What you're doing is more than acting," Hanson says towards the end of the trailer, as things get increasingly dramatic. "You're cleansing the world of an ancient evil."

You can watch the trailer in full below:

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The film is set to debut in competition at this year's Venice Film Festival in September, and although no exact UK release date has been confirmed at this stage, A24 has said it will arrive in cinemas in autumn.

The very brief official synopsis for Primetime simply reads: "In 2006, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen sets out to make television history."

Oppenheim – who is just 30 years old – has already found success with the documentary films Some Kind of Heaven and Spermworld as well as the 3-part HBO docuseries Ren Faire, so it will be very interesting to see the reaction to his first narrative film.

Primetime will be released in UK cinemas this autumn.

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Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of Patrick Cremona, smiling against a lime green background.

Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.

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