A24’s ‘Primetime’ Earns $2.7 Million in Previews as Robert Pattinson’s Creepy Chris Hansen Scores at the Box Office

"Avengers: Endgame Encore" earns a mighty $3.8 million as it returns to theaters.

“Primetime,” an exposé of reality-TV exploitation that stars Robert Pattinson as “To Catch a Predator” host Chris Hansen, got off to a solid start at the box office. The A24 release earned $2.7 million in Thursday previews. That puts it on track for an opening between $16 million to $20 million.

“To Catch a Predator” cost $15 million to produce, so an opening of that size would set it up nicely for a profitable run in theaters. In a battle of A-list actors, Pattinson appears to be outgrossing Brad Pitt, whose well-reviewed survival drama “Heart of the Beast” earned $2 million in previews. It carries a larger $82 million budget, so the hope is that older audiences, who don’t always head out on opening weekend, will continue showing up and word-of-mouth will carry the film. The film is a Paramount release, and since the studio was acquired by David Ellison in 2025, the new regime has become much more conservative about marketing spending.

Neither film is expected to outrun the second weekend of Zach Cregger’s “Resident Evil” reboot, which should bring in $24 million to $26 million or “Avengers: Endgame Encore,” a re-release of the 2019 superhero smash that is expected to bring in $25 million to $28 million. The “Avengers” revival racked up an impressive $3.8 million in previews on Thursday.

“Primetime” continues a strong run at the box office for A24, which released the biggest hit in its history this summer with “Backrooms.” The indie studio managed to outgross both Paramount and Warner Bros. this summer, earning $237 million. Paramount ended blockbuster season with $192 million in ticket sales and Warner Bros. with $165 million in grosses.

Pattinson has scored some of the best reviews of his career, even though Hansen has slammed the movie, sight unseen, as “identity theft.” It’s unclear if he will be able to elbow into a crowded Oscar race that already has the likes of Matt Damon (“The Odyssey”), John Malkovich (“Wild Horse Nine”), Ryan Gosling (“Project Hail Mary”), and John Turturro (“The Only Living Pickpocket in New York”) vying for consideration.