Phoebe Bridgers Drops 'On Video' as A24's Primetime Hits Theaters

A24’s Primetime, Lance Oppenheim’s dramatization of Chris Hansen’s mid-2000s To Catch a Predator era, opened in U.S. theaters Friday with Robert Pattinson in the lead and a new closing-track single from co-star Phoebe Bridgers, Pitchfork and Deadline reported.

Bridgers’ song “On Video” was written specifically for the film rather than licensed as an existing cut, Pitchfork said. She drew on composer Ari Balouzian’s score so the track could function as the end-credits theme, positioning the release as both a soundtrack moment and a theatrical marketing beat on opening day.

Deadline first set the nationwide theatrical date for Sept. 25 after the project landed a Venice Film Festival berth. Pattinson plays Hansen, the NBC Dateline correspondent whose sting operations with online decoys and law enforcement became a cultural flashpoint in 2006. Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo and Bridgers co-star; Ajon Singh wrote the screenplay.

Pattinson also produces through Icki Eneo Arlo with Brighton McCloskey, alongside Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fred Berger, Lars Knudsen and Tyler Campellone, Deadline reported. Oppenheim, known for documentary work, crosses into narrative features with a true-crime television story that already carries heavy real-world baggage for audiences who remember the original broadcasts.

For Bridgers, Primetime is her first credited acting role as a cast member, Pitchfork noted, though she previously appeared as herself in Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow in 2024. The theatrical bow lands weeks after she returned as a solo artist with Lost Weekend, her first solo album since 2020’s Punisher, and amid a headlining tour that has included surprise Boygenius moments with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker.

Friday’s wide slate also includes Paramount’s Heart of the Beast, Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame Encore re-release, DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island, Bleecker Street’s Victorian Psycho and Roadside Attractions’ Crawlers, Deadline’s July booking note said — a crowded corridor that puts A24’s prestige true-crime drama in competition for adult screens and year-end conversation.

Readers tracking autumn awards-season positioning on Hollywood will watch whether Pattinson’s producer-star turn and Bridgers’ dual music-acting footprint translate beyond opening-weekend curiosity. Hansen’s show remains polarizing; Oppenheim’s choice to revisit it as a feature invites debate about reenactment ethics as much as box-office math.

Pitchfork framed “On Video” as integral to the film’s close rather than a promotional afterthought, which matters for soundtrack collectors and for A24’s habit of pairing distinctive artists with theatrical events. Bridgers’ Brooklyn tour stop coinciding with release day — including a Boygenius mini-set of Not Strong Enough and Cool About It — gave the premiere an indie-music crossover that traditional newspaper junkets rarely deliver.

The project’s Venice showcase earlier this season gave critics an early look before the Sept. 25 commercial rollout. Deadline’s exclusive dating the film for early fall emphasized the festival-to-theater pipeline A24 has used for several adult dramas, betting that awards chatter and star casting can offset the subject matter’s discomfort for mainstream multiplexes.

As theaters open the film nationwide Friday, the concrete news for entertainment desks is straightforward: Pattinson’s Hansen vehicle is no longer a festival-only conversation, Bridgers has a new original song tied to her first narrative role, and A24 is asking audiences to sit with a chapter of television history that still sparks arguments about journalism, policing and spectacle.

Whether “On Video” becomes a longer chart story or remains a credits-only specialty release will be clearer after the first weekend’s streaming and radio pickup. For now, Pitchfork’s same-day listen and Deadline’s long-set theatrical date give Primetime a clean dual-source opening-day package for Hollywood coverage, with Bridgers’ tour calendar amplifying the music angle through the fall.

Industry watchers will also note how Primetime shares the date with Marvel’s Endgame encore and other genre titles — a scheduling mix that can either steal adult screens or create a counter-programming lane for viewers seeking something sharper than franchise nostalgia. Opening-weekend grosses and social chatter around Bridgers’ track will be the first hard measures of whether that bet paid off.

Ticket buyers can already find showtimes through major aggregators, and A24’s marketing has leaned on Pattinson’s dual credit as star and producer alongside Bridgers’ same-day song drop — a pairing designed to pull both film and music audiences into the same opening-night conversation.