Robert Pattinson Took 'Primetime' Role After 200 Zyn Canister Bribe

By Elena Vasquez

Robert Pattinson agreed to star in A24's "Primetime" after director Lance Oppenheim sent 200 canisters of Zyn nicotine pouches to his Los Angeles home. The gift arrived during a U.S. Zyn shortage. It came with a script draft and a letter opening, "Dear Chris Han-Zyn."

Pattinson plays Chris Hansen, host of "To Catch a Predator," and is generating Oscar buzz for the performance. He originally planned to stay behind the camera as a producer only.

How did the bribe actually work?

Screenwriter Ajon Singh retooled the script to convince Pattinson to take the lead role. Oppenheim then handled the persuasion campaign.

"Rob, at the time, was grappling with a Zyn addiction," Oppenheim told Vulture.

The nicotine pouches were hard to find in the United States at the time. So Oppenheim recruited a friend in Canada to send the 200 canisters south. He then delivered the latest "Primetime" draft himself, with the letter addressed to "Dear Chris Han-Zyn."

Pattinson read the new script and called the director. He said he would take the role.

"It was like LeBron making the announcement that he was joining the Heat," Oppenheim said.

The takeaway: one cross-border shipment of nicotine pouches helped land a lead actor now tracked as an Oscar contender.

What did the film earn?

"Primetime" opened on Sept. 25. It landed on the higher end of box office expectations, grossing nearly $50 million worldwide against a $15 million production budget — more than three times its cost.

Critics largely backed the film. Variety's Owen Gleiberman called Pattinson a "new kind of movie star" with "nervy dyspeptic magnetism."

"He's a star for the age of entropy," Gleiberman wrote, "for an era when everything is falling apart."

The takeaway: a $15 million production returned roughly $50 million in its opening run and delivered Pattinson's strongest critical reception in years.

What does Chris Hansen say?

Hansen himself has attacked the film. He called the movie and Pattinson's performance a "complete work of fiction."

His review was an anomaly. Critics generally rallied behind the film.

With Oscar buzz building and the box office run still open, the question now is whether the performance that 200 Zyn canisters helped secure converts into awards-season nominations.