Rust Will Resume Production With Alec Baldwin This Spring
One of the most controversial and high-profile Hollywood productions in recent memory is in the news again. The ill-fated "Rust" movie made headlines all across the industry due to the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021, which has since led to actor Alec Baldwin facing criminal charges of manslaughter. Now, filming will reportedly pick up once again this spring after a lengthy hiatus.
Details come courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter, revealing that the filmmakers intend to restart production in the hopes of finishing the film alongside both new crew members and old ones — including, by all accounts, Baldwin himself. This comes after conflicting reports in past months indicating that the picture was unlikely to be completed at all. However, the subsequent settling of a wrongful death lawsuit between Hutchins' family and Rust Movie Productions helped pave the way for production to resume eventually. As part of the deal, Hutchins' husband Matthew gave his blessing to finish the movie and will serve as a producer.
"Marcel the Shell With Shoes On" and "American Horror Story" cinematographer Bianca Cline will replace the late Hutchins as director of photography and donate her salary to charity, while the specific scene where Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured has been rewritten entirely. Souza, who will return along with several original crew members, released the following statement:
"Though bittersweet, I am grateful that a brilliant and dedicated new production team joining former cast and crew are committed to completing what Halyna and I started. My every effort on this film will be devoted to honoring Halyna's legacy and making her proud. It is a privilege to see this through on her behalf."
Halyna Hutchins documentary to be produced
"Rust" is scheduled to reenter production in the coming months with much more stringent safety protocols in place – including no live weapons or ammunition, along with the hiring of new safety officers and supervisors — and reportedly the returns of the original cast, which includes Jensen Ackles, Travis Fimmel, and Frances Fisher. It's unknown how the current prosecutorial proceedings against Baldwin will impact his availability for the rest of his yet-to-be-filmed scenes.
However, a new documentary will also be made in memory of Halyna Hutchins, as directed by Rachel Mason and produced by Julee Metz with the "full support" of Matthew Hutchins. Rust Movie Productions had this to say about the planned documentary:
"Both Mason and Metz were close friends with Halyna, and they look forward to working with the production to honor their friend and show the brilliance and depth of Halyna's talent while conveying what her loss has meant to her friends, colleagues, and the entire film industry."
According to a press release for the documentary, it will "explore her youth living on a remote Soviet naval base and in Kyiv, Ukraine to becoming a celebrated cinematographer." Metz further explained the reasoning behind the documentary to THR:
"We embarked on this endeavor to shed light on Halyna's life and to honor her achievements. We refuse to shy away from any aspect of this story, no matter how difficult — and if that includes the effort to complete Halyna's final film, it is our duty to document the process. The experience of those who are working to complete 'Rust' involves many hard decisions. As people who loved Halyna we hope to capture everything that we can in order to understand this incomprehensible situation in all its complexity."