Robert Pattinson brings ‘To Catch a Predator’ to life in ‘Primetime’

Robert Pattinson attends the “Primetime” Screening during the 83rd Venice International Film Festival at Sala Grande on Sept. 5, 2026, in Venice, Italy.

When Robert Pattinson first got the script for “Primetime,” a dramatization of NBC Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator” and the controversial sting operation that would lead to its cancellation, he was amazed it hadn’t been made into a movie already.

Here was a fascinating tale with shades of “Network,” “Ace in the Hole” and “To Die For,” and an inscrutable personality at its center in host Chris Hansen, a newsman who had become a pop culture icon with his own catchphrase: Have a seat.

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It was both old news, and, somehow, in the ether too. Last year, the show was also the subject of an acclaimed documentary, “Predators,” from David Osit.