Rust Premieres, Three Years After Fatal Shooting

Rust is officially out in the world. Making its festival premiere on November 20, the film, best known for being the set on which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died in October 2021, has had a harrowing road to screening. But Alec Baldwin, who fired the weapon that killed Hutchins, finished filming the movie while balancing myriad legal battles and booking new roles. New Mexico prosecutors originally charged the actor with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in 2023, but, after multiple rounds of trials, he ended up walking free. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the on-set armorer at the time of the tragedy, meanwhile, is currently in prison. Everything we know about the film’s debut, below.

What happened on Rust?

On October 21, 2021, Hutchins was killed after a gun, held by Baldwin, was fired on the set of Rust. The director of the film, Joel Souza, was injured as well. Weapons on sets are typically not loaded with actual bullets. After the shooting, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison on March 6, 2024, but, after multiple rounds of trials, Baldwin was not convicted of any crimes after the case was dismissed.

When is Rust out?

Rust premiered at the CamerImage Film Festival in Poland, a festival that specifically focuses on cinematographers, on November 20, 2024. “You know, we are here in a place that [Halyna] loved so much, probably second only to being on set,” Souza said during his remarks at the festival, per THR. “I want to thank you all for coming and for just taking a few hours out of your day to celebrate my friend — her art and her talent.” Baldwin was not present at the screening. We currently have no word on if the film will get a wide release.

Who completed the filming of Rust?

Both old and new crew members finished out the production of Rust. Bianca Cline, a cinematographer known for her work on Marcel the Shell With Shoes On and American Horror Story, stepped in as director of photography in Hutchins’s stead with her widower Matthew Hutchins’s “blessing and support.” “When it came to whether to finish the film or not, my decision really was, If the tables were turned, I would want her to finish the film,” Cline told Vulture on November 20. “I really try in my life to do everything according to what’s the right thing to do — not what’s easy or popular.” Despite being embroiled in legal woes, Baldwin came back to film the rest of the movie.

Noticeably absent was Gutierrez-Reed. Also absent was former assistant director Dave Halls, who signed a plea deal in the criminal case over a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Other key members did work to complete the film, however. Souza, who was injured in the shooting, returned to set. “People seeing [Halyna Hutchins’s] last work matters,” he said. “If it was me that had gotten killed instead of her — as it should have been — she would do the same thing.” The scene being filmed when Hutchins was killed is no longer in the movie, nor are any of the scenes directly leading up to it.

Who’s in the cast?

Jake Busey was added to the cast as of April 28, joining Patrick Scott McDermott, Frances Fisher, and Baldwin in the picture. Jensen Ackles, who was originally going to be in the movie, did not return for filming and was replaced by Josh Hopkins.

What does Halyna Hutchins’s family have to say about Rust resuming filming?

Hutchins’s widower, Matthew, supported the production resuming and worked as a producer on it. Following the settlement of a wrongful-death lawsuit over the shooting last October, filming continued with Matthew’s blessing. The late cinematographer’s mother, father, and sister are not involved in the project but did settle their lawsuit that named Baldwin, Gutierrez-Reed, and the rest of the production in 2023.

This is a developing story and has been updated throughout.