It was recently reported that Rust will complete production following the settlement of a lawsuit against the filmmakers over the death of Halyna Hutchins. In October 2021, Hutchins was killed on the set of the Western after a live round was loaded into the prop gun given to lead actor Alec Baldwin. A criminal investigation is still ongoing, but so far no charges have been filed in connection with the tragedy.
After the incident, Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and others involved in the making of Rust. Earlier this month, it was announced that the two parties had reached a settlement with Hutchins joining the project as executive producer. He said finish Rust would honor his wife’s “final work,” and the word is that producers plan to submit her cinematic work on the film for awards once the film is released.
“I have no interest in being involved in blaming or assigning blame (to the producers or Mr Baldwin),” Hutchins said in the statement. “We all believe that Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s latest work.”
utilities, Variety reports that Rust will also move to another state when filming resumes in January 2023. Melina Spadone, attorney for Rust Movie Productions LLC, tells the outlet that producers are currently looking for a new filming location outside of New Mexico for when the project gets back on track. California is said to be a “possibility” right now, although nothing is finalized yet.
Not everyone involved wants to return to finish Rust
Alec Baldwin returns with the main cast members of Rust, as Matthew Hutchins gave his blessing for everyone to finish the film. But there will be some crew members who won’t come back because some people are too uncomfortable to do anything with it Rust after the tragedy. A crew member told Variety that the incident was “traumatic across the board”, echoing the feelings of some others.
“There’s just kind of a concern about how I would react emotionally if I was in that space again. I don’t know if I would do my job well,” the person said.
But there are others who support the idea of finishing Rust. Another crew member, who maintained anonymity over NDA concerns, suggested the film will honor Halyna Hutchins’ legacy, so if they look at it that way, they may be doing the right thing.
“I think he’s doing it for the right reasons,” the person explained. “That project is at least the dream his wife was working on, and up until the accident we had a wonderful film. If Matt wants to make the movie, and if Alec is willing to continue making the movie, then I think we should make the movie.”
No release date has been set for Rust but the plan is to resume shooting in January 2023.