‘Rust’ Production To Resume 18 Months After Cinematographer’s Death

Filming of the movie “Rust” is set to begin this week after a roughly 18-month hiatus following the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Principal photography on the movie will resume on Thursday at the Yellowstone Film Ranch in Montana, a Rust Movie Productions representative told CNN. The filming location moved from its original set in New Mexico after Hutchins’ death.

Hutchins was killed by a bullet shot from a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin, who is also one of the film’s producers, in October 2021. Prosecutors have charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter alongside the movie’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the weapons used on set. A preliminary hearing for the charges has been scheduled for May.

The film’s producers had previously planned to resume filming in January, though the month came and went without operations resuming.

Hutchins’ widower Matthew Hutchins is now counted among the show’s producers. He stepped into the role as part of an agreement reached after he sued Baldwin and the film’s production companies and other members of the crew over his wife’s death.

The judge in the lawsuit sealed the details of the settlement on Monday, saying that the interests of Hutchins’ 10-year-old son overrode any interests in public disclosure.

“What is driving my decision is really the interests of the minor child. And that is one of the very most powerful reasons to seal a matter,” said District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid said.

Baldwin’s attorneys had argued for the lawsuit to be dismissed.

“The loss of a daughter and sister is undoubtedly painful in any circumstance,” the actor’s legal team said in court documents. “Yet Plaintiffs — who had been distanced from Halyna physically, financially and emotionally for years before her death — have no viable cause of action against Defendants. This action is especially misguided.”

The shooting incident killed Hutchins and wounded another crew member, director Joel Souza, who was hit by the bullet that killed Hutchins. Baldwin was holding the gun that fired the bullet while he was rehearsing a scene that the crew was preparing to shoot. Baldwin held the gun pointed in Hutchins’ direction when it discharged.

Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger on the gun, and he has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him over the cinematographer’s death.

A report later issued by the FBI on the circumstances surrounding Hutchins’ death said that the gun could not have been fired without its trigger being pulled. The actor’s legal team responded that the FBI’s findings had been “misconstrued.”

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