Latest news with #CamerimageFilmFestival
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Family of Slain ‘Rust' Cinematographer Praise the ‘Stunning' Film
The family of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed in an on-set shooting in 2021, are urging audiences to see the 'stunning' film in Hutchins' memory. Hutchins' mother, Olga Solovey, and her sister, Svetlana Zemko, are encouraging audiences to see the film and 'remember her for as long as they can.' Solovey said of the film, 'I watched my daughter's stunning film twice. I was so happy for the success of my daughter because it was filmed so beautifully.' She continued, 'I would want everybody to watch it because it was the dream of my daughter and she would want people to see it. I would want people to see the talent, the beauty, the success, and I'm just so immensely proud of her. She had a very specific style of cinematography and she saw the world differently. She could see and capture how the sun sets and how animals behaved. She saw the beauty of it all. She could capture it. She could capture nature. I like the film. I want many people to watch it, and I would want more people to remember her for as long as they can.' Zemko added, 'The film is amazing, very beautiful and colorful, the shots are just amazing, the composition, the light, even the weather in the frame transfers through the screen. The film is brilliant. Everyone should see Gala's work; this is high professionalism and high-level artistry. The film is strong. I would want Gala to be remembered not for the tragedy but for her talent and hard work.' The film has finally been released three and a half years after the fatal on-set shooting involving the film's star, Alec Baldwin, that claimed Hutchins' life. Baldwin's manslaughter charges were dismissed with prejudice in July 2024, and in December, prosecutors withdrew their appeal, bringing the case to a close. Rust premiered at the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland last year, with Solovey opting to skip the premiere at the time, telling Deadline, 'Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death. Instead, he seeks to unjustly profit from his killing of my daughter. That is the reason why I refuse to attend the festival for the promotion of Rust, especially now when there is still no justice for my daughter.' The film was released in theaters and on streaming services on Friday, making an estimated $25,000 at 115 theaters on its opening day.
Forbes
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Rust': Scandal-Plagued Alec Baldwin Movie Flops In Theaters
Rust — The controversial Alec Baldwin movie in which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentally shot to death during filming — is a bust in its opening weekend in theaters. The shooting tragedy took place on the New Mexico set of Rust on Oct. 21, 2021, when a live round in a prop gun Baldwin was holding that he thought contained blanks went off and struck Hutchins in the chest. The cinematographer later died at a local hospital while director Joel Souza, who was struck in the shoulder by the same bullet, recovered from his injuries. Baldwin was charged twice with involuntary manslaughter in the case but the first set of charges were dismissed in April of 2023 and the second set of charges were dropped in July of 2024. The film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter and was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Baldwin and Souza went on to finish Rust in 2023 and the film premiered at the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland in November of 2024. Rust debuted simultaneously on digital streaming and in theaters Friday, but the film registered little business in the case of the latter. According to Deadline, Rust is projected to make $25,000 from 115 North American theaters, which amounts to a per-screen average of $215. Deadline explained that the poor turnout for Rust in theaters stems from the film's availability to stream on digital video. Rust had a production budget of about $8 million before prints and advertising, per The Hollywood Reporter. As of Saturday, Rust has earned a 46% 'rotten' rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 24 reviews. Among the top critics on RT who give Rust a 'rotten' rating is David Fear, who, like many critics mentions the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins in his assessment. Fear writes on RT, 'The fact that Hutchins' work here is the best thing the movie has going for it only compounds both the irony and the tragedy.' Nick Schager of The Daily Beast also gives Rust a 'rotten' review, writing on RT, 'A dour affair made all the grimmer by the fact that there isn't a second of its 139 minutes that isn't colored, in some way, by the on-set shooting that made it notable, and notorious, in the first place.' Mahola Dargis of The New York Times is among the top critics on RT who gives Rust a 'fresh' review, writing, 'What is undeniable is that because Rust looks as good as it does, every time riders on horseback appear against a florid sky, it isn't the characters you think about — it's Halyna Hutchins.' Rafer Guzman of Newsday also gives the film a 'fresh' on RT, writing, 'Despite a tragic back story, this Western holds its own with grit, depth and moments of beauty.' Rust is playing in theaters and is available on PVOD.
CBC
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Rust opens in theatres more than three years after on-set shooting of cinematographer
Social Sharing More than three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of the Alec Baldwin film Rust, the movie has come to theatres, opening quietly Friday with the tragedy of its making still hanging over it. While rehearsing a scene on the New Mexico set in 2021, producer-star Baldwin pointed a prop gun at Hutchins, only for it to suddenly go off, firing a live round that killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza. The shocking accident ground the film to a halt and triggered a year-long investigation. But now, the film is available in theatres through a limited theatrical release, meaning it joins a list of films released despite tragic accidents on set, including The Crow and Twilight Zone: The Movie. The armourer for Rust, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. The same charge was brought against Baldwin, but was dismissed after the prosecution was accused of improperly withholding evidence. Dave Halls, assistant director on Rust, pleaded no contest to negligent use of a firearm for not properly checking the gun had no live rounds in it before handing it to Baldwin. The fate of the film itself hung in the balance until, a year and a half after the shooting, production resumed, with Souza returning to complete his job as director and Bianca Cline joining to do the remaining cinematography. Souza has said he decided to finish the film to honour Hutchins's work and also to benefit her family. Although the full terms of her family's settlement with producers are sealed, a news release from the film confirmed that her husband, Matthew, and son Andros would be receiving profits from the film, and that the original producers will not gain financially from its release. WATCH | Judge dismisses charges against Baldwin (from July 2024): Judge dismisses charges against Alec Baldwin 10 months ago Duration 2:15 "The family wanted it completed," Souza told the Guardian earlier this week, adding that while he'd initially been "repelled by the thought of going back … I couldn't live with the idea of someone else doing it." When asked what he would change if he could, he replied, "I wish I never wrote the damn movie." Rust had its world premiere at the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland in November. Rachel Mason, a friend of Hutchins who created a documentary about her death called Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna, shared a clip from the Hulu doc on Instagram on Thursday to mark the theatrical release of Rust. "These are Halyna's images and this is Halyna's voice. Rust is Halyna's film. You can see this work of art now at selected theaters," she wrote. "The people who made this film with her are people who deserve compassion." Other tragic accidents on film It isn't the first time that a film has been completed following a tragic accident on set. Art Scholl, a veteran pilot and cameraman, was killed during the filming of the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun while shooting aerial footage for a scene in which the character Goose dies during an aborted mission. On the set of the 1983 film Twilight Zone: The Movie, Vic Morrow and two child actors aged six and seven, Renee Shin-Yi Chen and Myca Dinh Le, were all killed when a low-flying helicopter lost control and crashed into them. The horrific accident saw co-director John Landis and four others on the film's team facing involuntary manslaughter charges — though none were found to be criminally liable — and prompted tightening regulations for on-set safety. Perhaps the closest mirror to Hutchins's death is that of Brandon Lee: the 28-year-old star, son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, was filming the final scenes of noir thriller The Crow when another actor shot him with a prop gun that had been improperly loaded. Lee died hours later. The remaining scenes were shot with his stunt double, and the film was eventually released in 1994, going on to gross over $50 million US worldwide. Lee's sister, Shannon Lee, told CNN in 2023 that the family had wanted to share his final work, knowing how proud of it he was. "It would have seemed really unfair for him not to get to share that with the world," she said. Reaction to Rust mixed Set in 1880s Wyoming, Rust follows a young teenager named Lucas and his estranged grandfather, a grizzled outlaw played by Baldwin. The finished film doesn't contain the scene Baldwin was rehearsing when the gun went off, but in a western action film, gunshots and violence are an inevitable refrain throughout the story. The dissonance of assessing a film about a gunslinging outlaw considering the surrounding context is reflected in the hesitant tone of reviews of the film, with many praising the striking visuals of Hutchins's — and Cline's — cinematography, while also noting that Rust largely fails to step out of the shadow of Hutchins's death on its own merits. "There's not a moment in Rust in which one loses awareness of the tragedy," Jocelyn Noveck of The Associated Press wrote, adding that the movie is "better in some aspects" than viewers may have expected. "Like The Crow or Twilight Zone: The Movie, Rust is a film that's forever tied to one fatal day," Brian Truitt of USA Today wrote. Whether or not many audiences will be interested in seeing Rust remains to be seen. But those who make the trip to theatres won't be able to forget the cinematographer's death for long. At the end of the film, the words "...for Halyna," appear onscreen, with Hutchins's name repeated in Ukrainian as well. For the film's final message, there's a quote from the late cinematographer: "What can we do to make this better?"
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Controversial Alec Baldwin Movie ‘Rust' Comes To Streaming This Week
"Rust" partial poster. Rust — the Alec Baldwin Western on which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentally shot to death during filming — arrives on digital streaming this week. The tragedy happened on Oct. 21, 2021, on the Rust set in New Mexico, when a live round in a prop gun Baldwin was holding went off and struck Hutchins in the chest and director Joel Souza in the shoulder. Hutchins died from her wounds in a local hospital and Souza recovered. Baldwin denied pulling the trigger in an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos about six weeks later, saying, "The trigger wasn't pulled … I didn't pull the trigger." ABC News later obtained an FBI forensic report that called his claims into question. Baldwin's attorney address the report in a statement (via ABC), that partially said, 'The FBI report is being misconstrued. The gun fired in testing only one time — without having to pull the trigger — when the hammer was pulled back and the gun broke in two different places. The FBI was unable to fire the gun in any prior test, even when pulling the trigger, because it was in such poor condition.' Charges of involuntary manslaughter were filed against Baldwin twice. The first charge was dismissed in April of 2023 when new evidence surfaced and the second charge was dropped in July of 2024 when a judge said evidence about the shooting was withheld by the state. Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was also charged involuntary manslaughter. She was found guilty in April of 2024 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Despite the on-set fatality, production on Rust was finished and the film premiered at Poland's Camerimage Film Festival in November of 2024. Starting Friday, Rust will be released on digital streaming via premium video on demand and in limited release in theaters. Rust — which will be available on AppleTV, Fandango at Home and Prime Video — is currently listed for pre-order for $14.99, which is also the film's digital purchase price. If the film is made available to rent, digital rentals generally are $5 less purchase prices, so viewers can expect to rent Rust for $9.99. The official summary for Rust reads, 'A 13-year-old boy in 1880's Wyoming is taken on a harrowing journey to old Mexico by his long-estranged grandfather after he's sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher, with a US Marshall and a vicious Bounty Hunter in pursuit.' Alec Baldwin stars as Harland Rust in Rust, which also stars Travis Fimmel, Josh Hopkins, Jake Busey, Frances Fisher and Patrick Scott McDermott. Meanwhile, a documentary about the Rust tragedy — Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna — is available to stream on Hulu. In a press release about the documentary, the production notes that Halyna Hutchins' friend, director Rachel Mason, 'goes beyond the public narrative to reveal the untold human story of that terrible day and all that followed — from the vantage point of the people at the center of the tragedy.' The documentary's official summary partially reads, 'On October 21, 2021, on the set of the movie Rust, a prop gun held by actor Alec Baldwin fired a live bullet, wounding the film's director and killing its cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. Within hours, the catastrophic accident was enveloped by a frenzy of media attention. For months, then years, as lawsuits flew and criminal trials unfolded, the tabloid spectacle around the case overshadowed a private, personal tragedy. "The film weaves together the accounts of those who were on the set of Rust that day and of those, like Mason, who not only lost a cherished friend and colleague but who are still navigating the trauma of the aftermath.' Rust, which stars Alec Baldwin — who is one of the film's producers — will debut on PVOD and will be released in select theaters on Friday.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Rust' will hit theaters in May. Fake guns and rubber bullets were just part of what it took to complete the movie.
Rust has a trailer and release date — three years after the film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on set. Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene for the western film on Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, N.M., in October 2021 when the prop gun he was using discharged. A live round, which had been mixed in with the fake movie bullets, fatally struck Halyna before lodging in director Joel Souza's shoulder. The tragedy has resulted in multiple lawsuits and high-profile trials. The film's original armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is serving 18 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin went to trial on the same charge, but his case was dismissed. The original first assistant director, David Halls, pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to probation. The film went back into production in 2023 and will have a May 2 theatrical release. The new trailer, out March 26, shows that the film didn't get watered down. There is no shortage of guns and shoot-outs, though Baldwin doesn't appear to be the triggerman in any of the trailer scenes. He does utter some lines that hit differently in light of what happened, including 'Some things in life you can't get back, I reckon' and 'Heaven ain't waiting on either one of us.' The synopsis of the film — for which Baldwin also gets 'story by' and 'produced by' credits — reads: 'In 1880s Wyoming, recently orphaned Lucas Hollister (Patrick Scott McDermott) accidentally kills a rancher and is sentenced to hang. In a twist of fate, his estranged grandfather, the notorious outlaw Harland Rust (Academy Award nominee Alec Baldwin), breaks him out of jail and takes him on the run toward Mexico. As they flee across the unforgiving wilderness, the fugitive pair must outrun the determined U.S. Marshal Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins) and a ruthless bounty hunter named 'Preacher' (Travis Fimmel).' Halyna's husband, Matthew, and son, Andros, will receive the profits from the film, the press release noted. That's part of a wrongful death lawsuit settlement reached with film producers. Matthew also received an executive producer credit. The film premiered in November at the Camerimage Film Festival in Toruń, Poland. The recent Hulu documentary, Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna, noted that Halyna dreamed of showing her work at that festival, which celebrates the artistry of cinematographers. Souza was in attendance at the premiere. Baldwin was not invited, organizers said. In the wake of the shooting, filming completely shut down. The New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau fined producers $137,000 for firearms safety failures. Souza told Vanity Fair he thought about quitting filmmaking altogether. Baldwin said the lawsuit settlement with Matthew, reached in October 2022, hinged on the completion of Halyna's final film. 'I said to Joel, 'Are you going to do it? If you think it's important to do this, I'll do it. If it's the only way we can settle the case with [Halyna's] husband and the estate is to finish the film, let's do it,' Baldwin told Variety. 'So we go to Montana.' Production resumed in April 2023 on Yellowstone Film Ranch in Pray, Mont. 'All my doctors told me 'don't go' — mental health practitioners, cardiologists,' Baldwin said. 'I was very sick afterwards for a while, physically drained and ill. But I went.' Changes were implemented on the set. Most notably, they only used fake guns and bullets. The new first assistant director, Gerard DiNardi, told the New York Times there would be 'nothing that fires,' only 'facsimiles of weapons, from rubber to replicas.' Andrew Wert, who took over as the new armorer, said the dummy rounds were made of rubber and wood and then painted gold. Any firing was done digitally. Bianca Cline replaced Halyna as cinematographer. In the Hulu documentary, she said she tried to preserve as much of the Ukrainian filmmaker's original footage as possible. She donated her pay to charity. There were cast changes: Jensen Ackles didn't return and was replaced by Josh Hopkins. Brady Noon, who originally played the boy at the center of the story, was replaced by Patrick Scott McDermott. The church scene filmed when the shooting occurred was cut from the film. Souza told Vanity Fair, 'It vanishes in its entirety,' in addition to scenes leading up to it, with a portion of the film, which he wrote, being completely reconceived. 'I'm glad you asked. I don't want anyone who ever does see [the film] to be waiting for that [scene].' Souza told NPR it was 'a very tough decision' for him to return, but driving him was being able to finish Halyna's final film instead of having a stranger do it. He said he 'was a wreck through most of the second go around. It's something I still struggle with, [if] I should have or shouldn't have. But I just feel like, for me, that was the right thing to do.' Souza told Vanity Fair that he ran a tighter ship, making 'it very clear in the second iteration, it's my way or the highway.' That included less input from Baldwin about the creative direction of his character, which Souza said became a 'struggle' during the initial shoot. Baldwin told Variety of the reshoot, 'It was a better film in a lot of ways. Other than Halyna.' Filming wrapped in May 2023. At the time, Baldwin wrote on Instagram, 'It's been a long and difficult road. But we reach the end of the trail today.' He called it, 'Nothing less than a miracle.' Souza told the Hollywood Reporter the shoot 'was tough" for Baldwin. 'I can only imagine how difficult that was.' Asked by Vanity Fair about his post-film relationship with the actor, Souza replied, 'We got through it. I got the performance I wanted. We're not friends. We're not enemies. There's no relationship.' The film was finished in March 2024. According to the press release that accompanied the trailer, the film's original producers — including Baldwin — will not gain financially from the movie. 'There are people out there who say, 'I don't want to support [or] put money in Baldwin's pocket or the producers' pocket," Souza told NPR in November. 'You're not going to. That's not how this is going to work.' Baldwin attorney Luke Nikas told the outlet the star completed Rust 'for the benefit of Halyna Hutchins's family and her legacy. He was not paid to complete the film, he has not and will not profit from the film, and he has zero financial interest in the film or any proceeds the film may earn.' Baldwin told Variety, 'The notion that anybody has profited from the film's sale and distribution is blatantly untrue. I waived my fee [and] waived all my backend. I gave everything to her husband. He owns the film. … From the get-go in the settlement we all said, 'We don't want anything! You can have everything!' And we gave everything, literally.' According to the Hollywood Reporter, Baldwin was paid a modest $150,000 to act in the independent film. As a producer, his company was going to earn $100,000 and part of the backend — and, as noted, he waived both. The other original producers were supposed to earn between $100,000 and $150,000. Baldwin told Variety he wanted the film to be released so 'that [Matthew] gets his money. We all made a deal with him and we all want to follow through. But this idea that people — who shall remain nameless — say, 'You are profiting from this!' That is absolutely wrong.' Souza told Vanity Fair that when it was announced a settlement had been reached with Matthew and he would be a producer, he felt the public even 'turned on' Matthew. 'People were angry, and it's like: Man, f*** you,' Souza said. 'Anybody who's got a problem with Matt has a problem with goodness in general. This guy is way out of your league in terms of integrity and in terms of just emotional intelligence.' Baldwin told Variety he hadn't watched the completed film. He said that was because it's 'the most difficult thing I've ever dealt with in my life' and 'I want all things Rust to just leave my windshield.' In his mind, the film is 'always going to be overshadowed by' Halyna's death. Souza knows getting moviegoers to see it is a hurdle, telling NPR, 'Obviously, the human cost and the tragedy of it overshadows everything, rightfully so, and is so much more important than any movie. I just wonder if people will sort of see past that and engage with it as a film or if it will be a thing where people can't ever separate the movie from what happened during its filming.' Souza said his only hope is that moviegoers see it for Halyna. 'If people don't want to watch this movie, for any reason, they certainly don't need to and there's no hard feelings from me,' he told the Hollywood Reporter. 'But what I hope is that people give it a chance — and if they do, that they look closely at the visual aspects, particularly the cinematography. Because it's a very unique opportunity to look through Halyna's eyes and see how she saw the world.' is in theaters and available on VOD beginning May 2.
