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Chris Hansen refused to sign A24’s deal, so he never saw Primetime

Published 07:33 21 Aug 2026 BST

Updated 07:56 21 Aug 2026 BST

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Chris Hansen refused to sign A24’s deal, so he never saw Primetime

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'A24 wanted me to sign away my rights'

American presenter Chris Hansen has revealed he went to A24's offices to watch Primetime, the film in which Robert Pattinson plays him, and left without seeing a frame.

According to the 66-year-old, he arrived for a 10am private screening on Thursday but refused to sign the legal agreement put in front of him, as The Hollywood Reporter first reported.

Hansen called it a "very restrictive agreement" and said he had "never seen anything quite like it" in four decades on the beat, as he spoke hours later on Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime.

According to Hansen, his lawyers had already seen the document before he arrived.

"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. I couldn't sign that, so they didn't show me the film", Hansen said.

https://twitter.com/JesseBWatters/status/2090602802091278554?s=20

What Chris Hansen says A24 asked him to sign

As per The Hollywood Reporter, he was sent a standard non-disclosure agreement a week in advance, which is the same one all preview audiences sign for an unreleased A24 film.

This is done largely to prevent spoilers and protect the studio's intellectual property.

"I know other people have seen it who didn't sign an NDA, and yet they wanted me to sign it," Hansen said, adding that he had been told the film is "fictionalised in many aspects".

Directed by Lance Oppenheim, Primetime casts Pattinson as the Dateline NBC correspondent and chronicles the ethical dilemmas and media sensationalism behind To Catch a Predator.

Primetime ran from 2004 to 2007 and became a touchstone for later true crime documentaries.

Variety reported that it is due to premiere at the Venice Film Festival.