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Chris Hansen was turned away from a 'Primetime' screening for refusing to sign an NDA
Chris Hansen’s relationship with Primetime, the upcoming movie about his career making To Catch A Predator, has taken another bizarre turn. The former NBC reporter was barred from a screening of the film because he refused to sign an NDA.
Primetime, which sees Robert Pattinson starring as Chris Hansen, is based on the 2007 Esquire story “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die” and will be released in theaters on September 25.
According to reports, Hansen was turned away from a private screening of the film after refusing to sign what A24 describes as a standard non-disclosure agreement required of all preview attendees to prevent spoilers from leaking ahead of the film’s release.
Chris Hansen was turned away from a screening of Primetime after refusing to sign an NDA
Hansen went on Fox News afterward and claimed the document went far beyond a standard NDA and asked him to sign away rights to his name, image, brand, and any legal claims he might have against the film.
“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. I went all the way over there,” Hansen said.
Sources who spoke to Deadline said that characterization is not accurate, with multiple people familiar with the document saying it was a routine preview agreement of the kind A24 requires for all early screenings.
When the trailer dropped, he called it “very dramatic” and questioned Hollywood’s motives for making the project while withholding final judgment until he could see the full film.
It’s perhaps unsurprising that Hansen is wary of Primetime given its source material, as “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die” details the sting that effectively ended To Catch A Predator.
In November 2006, Dateline and its To Catch A Predator partners, Perverted Justice, were conducting a sting at a bait house in Murphy, Texas.
Local assistant district attorney Bill Conradt was one of the men who engaged with the operation but did not travel to the bait house.
Instead, a group of police, Dateline, and Peverted Justice personnel executed inaccurate arrest and search warrants at Conradt’s home in Terrell, Texas. After SWAT breached the house, Conradt shot himself.
In addition to Pattinson as Hansen, Primetime also stars Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers, Matthew Maher, and Bokeem Woodbine. You can check out the official trailer for Primetime below.