Rust opens in theatres more than three years after on-set shooting of cinematographer

Alexandra Mae Jones · CBC News

· Posted: May 02, 2025 6:53 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

More than 3 years aft cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally changeable connected the acceptable of the Alec Baldwin film Rust, the movie has travel to theatres, opening softly Friday with the calamity of its making inactive hanging implicit it. 

While rehearsing a country connected the New Mexico acceptable successful 2021, producer-star Baldwin pointed a prop weapon astatine Hutchins, lone for it to abruptly spell off, firing a unrecorded circular that killed Hutchins and wounded manager Joel Souza. 

The shocking mishap crushed the movie to a halt and triggered a year-long investigation.

But now, the movie is disposable successful theatres done a constricted theatrical release, meaning it joins a database of films released despite tragic accidents connected set, including The Crow and Twilight Zone: The Movie. 

The armourer for Rust, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was sentenced to 18 months successful situation for involuntary manslaughter. The aforesaid complaint was brought against Baldwin, but was dismissed aft the prosecution was accused of improperly withholding evidence. Dave Halls, adjunct manager connected Rust, pleaded nary contention to negligent usage of a firearm for not decently checking the weapon had nary unrecorded rounds successful it earlier handing it to Baldwin.  

The destiny of the movie itself hung successful the equilibrium until, a twelvemonth and a fractional aft the shooting, accumulation resumed, with Souza returning to implicit his occupation arsenic manager and Bianca Cline joining to bash the remaining cinematography. 

Souza has said helium decided to decorativeness the movie to honour Hutchins's enactment and besides to payment her family. Although the afloat presumption of her family's colony with producers are sealed, a quality merchandise from the movie confirmed that her husband, Matthew, and lad Andros would beryllium receiving profits from the film, and that the archetypal producers volition not summation financially from its release. 

WATCH | Judge dismisses charges against Baldwin (from July 2024):

"The household wanted it completed," Souza told the Guardian earlier this week, adding that portion he'd initially been "repelled by the thought of going backmost … I couldn't unrecorded with the thought of idiosyncratic other doing it."

When asked what helium would alteration if helium could, helium replied, "I privation I ne'er wrote the damn movie."

Rust had its satellite premiere astatine the Camerimage Film Festival successful Poland successful November.

Rachel Mason, a person of Hutchins who created a documentary astir her decease called Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna, shared a clip from the Hulu doc connected Instagram connected Thursday to people the theatrical merchandise of Rust. 

"These are Halyna's images and this is Halyna's voice. Rust is Halyna's film. You tin spot this enactment of creation present astatine selected theaters," she wrote. "The radical who made this movie with her are radical who merit compassion."

Other tragic accidents connected film

It isn't the archetypal clip that a movie has been completed pursuing a tragic mishap connected set. 

Art Scholl, a veteran aviator and cameraman, was killed during the filming of the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun portion shooting aerial footage for a country successful which the quality Goose dies during an aborted mission.

On the acceptable of the 1983 movie Twilight Zone: The Movie, Vic Morrow and 2 kid actors aged six and seven, Renee Shin-Yi Chen and Myca Dinh Le, were each killed erstwhile a low-flying chopper mislaid power and crashed into them.

The horrific mishap saw co-director John Landis and 4 others connected the film's squad facing involuntary manslaughter charges — though nary were recovered to beryllium criminally liable — and prompted tightening regulations for on-set safety. 

Perhaps the closest reflector to Hutchins's decease is that of Brandon Lee: the 28-year-old star, lad of martial arts fable Bruce Lee, was filming the last scenes of noir thriller The Crow when different histrion changeable him with a prop weapon that had been improperly loaded. Lee died hours later. 

The remaining scenes were changeable with his stunt double, and the movie was yet released successful 1994, going connected to gross implicit $50 cardinal US worldwide. Lee's sister, Shannon Lee, told CNN successful 2023 that the household had wanted to stock his last work, knowing however arrogant of it helium was. 

"It would person seemed truly unfair for him not to get to stock that with the world," she said.  

Reaction to Rust mixed

Set successful 1880s Wyoming, Rust follows a young teen named Lucas and his estranged grandfather, a grizzled outlaw played by Baldwin. 

The finished movie doesn't incorporate the country Baldwin was rehearsing erstwhile the weapon went off, but successful a occidental enactment film, gunshots and unit are an inevitable refrain passim the story. The dissonance of assessing a movie astir a gunslinging outlaw considering the surrounding discourse is reflected successful the hesitant code of reviews of the film, with galore praising the striking visuals of Hutchins's — and Cline's — cinematography, portion besides noting that Rust largely fails to measurement retired of the shadiness of Hutchins's decease connected its ain merits. 

"There's not a infinitesimal successful Rust in which 1 loses consciousness of the tragedy," Jocelyn Noveck of The Associated Press wrote, adding that the movie is "better successful immoderate aspects" than viewers whitethorn person expected.

"Like The Crow oregon Twilight Zone: The Movie, Rust is simply a movie that's everlastingly tied to 1 fatal day," Brian Truitt of USA Today wrote.  

Whether oregon not galore audiences volition beryllium funny successful seeing Rust remains to beryllium seen. But those who marque the travel to theatres won't beryllium capable to hide the cinematographer's decease for long. 

At the extremity of the film, the words "...for Halyna," look onscreen, with Hutchins's sanction repeated successful Ukrainian arsenic well. For the film's last message, there's a punctuation from the precocious cinematographer: "What tin we bash to marque this better?"