It was one of the most popular news segments on national TV in the early 2000s, and many viewers tuned in. Now, “To Catch a Predator” has inspired a movie. A24 released the trailer Wednesday.
The movie’s official title is “Primetime.” The film stars “Harry Potter” and “Twilight” alum Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen, the real-life journalist behind the sting-operation segment that was part of NBC’s “Dateline” from 2004 to 2007. The segment centered on adults who believed they were meeting children for sex, but instead were confronted by Hansen. The adults spoke with Hansen and were often arrested when they left.
Despite the program leading to arrests, “To Catch a Predator” was not without controversy. Adults working with the program posed online as children and arranged for adults they were chatting with to go to a house, where Hansen confronted them. The show also drew criticism over its journalistic methods, with critics questioning whether the segment was news or manufactured television.
“’To Catch a Predator’ became a bit of a pop culture phenomenon, but then things took a deadly turn shortly before the series was canceled,” Entertainment Weekly writes. “In 2006, actor Dan Schrack attempted to lure lawyer Bill Conradt to a house in Murphy, Texas via a phone call, but Conradt never arrived. The TV crew and police were then dispatched to and surrounded Conradt’s home in Terrell, Texas and as SWAT entered, he shot himself in the head, dying soon thereafter.”
“Primetime,” according to Variety, is expected to be released later this fall.
