Alec Baldwin's deadly western movie ‘Rust' finally makes it to the screen

Los Angeles Times

01-05-2025

Three and a half years after the fatal shooting on the 'Rust' set in New Mexico, Alec Baldwin's western movie is finally being released.
Baldwin accidentally shot the film's 42-year-old cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, during the film's production on Oct. 21, 2021. She died that day, a tragedy that sparked investigations, numerous lawsuits and two criminal trials.
Viewers will be able to stream 'Rust' for $14.99 on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and other video-on-demand platforms beginning late Thursday. The film will play on big screens at Laemmle's theaters in Encino and Santa Monica beginning Friday.
Producers tried to enter 'Rust' in prestigious industry film festivals, but settled for a premiere in Poland. Netflix and other streaming platforms passed on the movie, which is produced by Baldwin, Anjul Nigam and Ryan Donnell Smith, among others.
The film was directed by Joel Souza, who was injured in the shooting. He was standing inches from Hutchins when Baldwin's gun fired during a run-through of a scene. The bullet lodged in Souza's shoulder.
Baldwin — who was cleared in July of an involuntary manslaughter charge brought by New Mexico prosecutors — plays a rough-hewn outlaw, Harland Rust. The character survives a gunshot wound as he tries to help his 13-year-old grandson Lucas, played by Patrick Scott McDermott, flee to Mexico after the boy accidentally killed a rancher. The film is set in the 1880s.
After Hutchins' death near Santa Fe, N.M., the film shut down production.
Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies and New Mexico's occupational safety agents took charge of Bonanza Creek Ranch, the film's original location, to investigate the shooting. The sheriff's investigation spanned more than a year, and three people ultimately were charged criminally: Baldwin, armorer Hannah Gutierrez and assistant director David Halls, who was in charge of on-set safety.
Three days into Baldwin's high-profile trial in July, the state judge dismissed all charges after finding misconduct by a special prosecutor and detectives. The group was accused of hiding potential evidence from Baldwin's defense team.
Earlier this year, Baldwin filed a malicious prosecution civil lawsuit against New Mexico.
In March 2024, the film's first armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. She has served nearly 14 months in prison, and is expected to be released later this month, according to her attorney Jason Bowles.
Halls pleaded no contest to a single count of negligent use of a deadly weapon. He testified during Gutierrez's trial about lingering trauma and said he has since left the movie industry.
Filmmakers have said they wanted to finish the film as a tribute to Hutchins and her artistry.
Insurance settlements also required the film to be distributed, according to people close to the production. Proceeds will help fund the settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Hutchins' husband, Matthew, who became an executive producer of the movie, and their son.
Hutchins' family in Ukraine have separately filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Cinematographer Bianca Cline took over as director of photography when production resumed in Montana about 18 months after Hutchins' death.
There also were major cast changes. Actors Jensen Ackles and Swen Temmel were not part of the finished production.
Baldwin's co-stars include Josh Hopkins, Travis Fimmel and Frances Fisher.
The film's initial setting was rural Kansas, before the characters made their way through the Southwestern high desert. But with its rugged mountain backdrop, the film now kicks off in frontier Wyoming.
The New Mexico film set was troubled before the accident.
Camera crew members quit the night before shooting after alerting line producers about safety concerns, including accidental gun discharges, and a lack of nearby housing. Camera crew members previously told The Times that they assumed producers would halt production for the day to address their concerns.
Instead, producers pushed forward with limited camera staff. The crew was running behind schedule that day, and there was no media village where Souza and Hutchins normally would have directed scenes by watching monitors.
Hutchins wanted to get a camera angle of Baldwin, sitting on a pew inside a dusty wooden church, for a dramatic moment in the film. He slowly pulled his prop gun from his holster and pointed it at the camera.
'You think about the chain of events that started that morning. Bad decision after bad decision was made,' Souza told the Guardian newspaper in a recent interview. '... I wish I never wrote the damn movie.'
Falling Forward Films has handled theatrical distribution, while Ascending Media Group is responsible for the video-on-demand runs. The film runs 2 hours, 19 minutes.
Hutchins' friends also made a documentary, 'Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna,' which streams on Hulu.
Baldwin and his wife, Hilaria, currently star in a TLC show about their hectic lives with their seven children.