Upcoming Film Rust
Rust is an upcoming American Western film written and directed by Joel Souza.
The film stars Alec Baldwin (who also produces, and co-wrote the story with Souza), Patrick Scott McDermott, Travis Fimmel, Frances Fisher, and Josh Hopkins.
| Rust | |
|---|---|
 Cover page of the script | |
| Directed by | Joel Souza |
| Screenplay by | Joel Souza |
| Story by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography |
|
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | The Avenue |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8 million |
In October 2021, production was suspended after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot when a gun being used as a prop was fired by Baldwin during the preparation for a scene; Souza was injured by the same round.
Filming was set to resume in January 2023 amidst ongoing lawsuits, but Baldwin was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter that month, putting his further involvement with the project into question. The charges were dropped against Baldwin on April 20, 2023 (they were reinstated the following year), and filming resumed that same day, concluding the following month. Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison on April 15, 2024. Other legal proceedings are ongoing, including criminal and civil charges against Baldwin and others.
Premise
In 1880s Kansas, aging outlaw Harland Rust comes out of hiding to rescue his thirteen-year-old grandson Lucas Hollister, after he is sentenced to hang for an accidental murder. Now fugitives, the pair have to outrun both Rust's nemesis, U.S. Marshal Wood Helm, and the vicious bounty hunter Fenton "Preacher" Lang.
Cast
- Alec Baldwin as Harland Rust
- Patrick Scott McDermott as Lucas Hollister. Brady Noon was originally cast as Lucas but exited when production resumed.
- Travis Fimmel as Fenton "Preacher" Lang
- Frances Fisher as Lucas' grandaunt
- Jake Busey as Drum Parker
Additionally, Josh Hopkins and Devon Werkheiser are cast in undisclosed roles. Jensen Ackles initially filmed scenes, before being replaced by Hopkins.
Production
Development
In May 2020, it was announced that Alec Baldwin would produce and star in Rust, a Western based on a story he created with writer and director Joel Souza. Baldwin told The Hollywood Reporter that he was elated to work with Souza after missing the opportunity to star in Crown Vic (2019). He compared the screenplay to the film Unforgiven (1992), and said it was inspired by a true story. When asked about his gun slinging and horse riding skills, he said: "They're always at the ready. I'm an actor of the old school. So if you read my resume – my motorcycle riding, my French, juggling, my horseback riding, my gunplay – is all right at my fingertips at all times."
Rust was being produced on a $6–7 million budget and has been described as a "passion project" for Baldwin. The film's distribution rights were sold to The Avenue for $2 million during the pre-production phase. Travis Fimmel, Brady Noon, and Frances Fisher joined the cast in September 2021, with Jensen Ackles being cast the following month. The production involved approximately 150 crew members, half of them local, 22 principal and 230 background actors from New Mexico. The production had a filming schedule of 21 days. Filming began in New Mexico on October 6, 2021.
Shooting incident
On the morning of October 21, 2021, which was to be the twelfth day of filming, seven unionized members of the film's camera crew collected their belongings at approximately 6:30 a.m. MT in a walkout. They claim they were told to leave the set, with a producer threatening to call the police, and were replaced. According to a statement given to TheWrap by an anonymous insider, several crew members took a number of prop guns off-set that day, including the firearm involved in the incident, to pass the time shooting at beer cans with live ammunition. After a lunch break, the prop guns had been returned. It is not clear if the firearms were checked again. On October 26, the Santa Fe County district attorney said these claims were still unconfirmed.
Later that day, the cast and crew were rehearsing a gunfight scene taking place inside of a church at the Bonanza Creek Ranch. Firearms and ammunition were retrieved from a locked safe and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed placed three guns to be used in filming on a cart. Among them were a plastic gun that could not shoot live ammunition, a modified weapon that could not fire any type of ammunition, and a solid-frame .45 Colt revolver replica made by Pietta.
According to a search warrant, the guns were briefly checked by Gutierrez-Reed, before assistant director David Halls took the Pietta revolver from the prop cart and handed it to Baldwin. In a subsequent affidavit, Halls said the safety protocol regarding this firearm was such that Halls would open the loading gate of the revolver and rotate the cylinder to expose the chambers so he could inspect them himself. According to the affidavit, Halls said he did not check all cylinder chambers, but he recalled seeing three rounds in the cylinder at the time. (After the shooting, Halls said in the affidavit, Gutierrez-Reed retrieved the weapon and opened it, and Halls said that he saw four rounds which were plainly blanks, and one which could have been the remaining shell of a discharged live round.) In the warrant, it is further stated that Halls announced the term "cold gun", meaning that it did not contain live rounds. Halls's lawyer, Lisa Torraco, later sought to assert that he did not take the gun off the cart and hand it to Baldwin as reported, but when pressed by a reporter to be clear, she refused to repeat that assertion.
B-camera operator Reid Russell was situated on a camera dolly, looking at a monitor with Hutchins and Souza both nearby. The scene involved Baldwin's character removing a gun from its holster and pointing it toward the camera. The trio behind the monitor were two feet (0.6 m) from the muzzle of the firearm and none of them were wearing protective gear such as noise-canceling headphones or safety goggles.
The trio behind the monitor began repositioning the camera to remove a shadow, and Baldwin began explaining to the crew how he planned to draw the firearm. He said, "So, I guess I'm gonna take this out, pull it, and go, 'Bang!'" When he removed it from the holster, the revolver discharged a single time. Baldwin denied pulling the trigger of the gun, while ABC News described a later FBI report stating that the gun could only fire if the trigger was pulled. Halls was quoted by his attorney Lisa Torraco as saying that Baldwin did not pull the trigger, and that Baldwin's finger was never within the trigger guard during the incident. When the gun fired, the projectile traveled towards the three behind the monitor. It struck Hutchins in the chest, traveled through her body, and then hit Souza in the shoulder. Script supervisor Mamie Mitchell called 9-1-1 at 1:46 p.m. MT and emergency crews appeared three minutes later. Footage of the incident was not recorded.
Hutchins was flown by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she was pronounced dead. Souza was treated by EMS and transported by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, where he was admitted and released by the following morning.
As a result of the incident, production on Rust was suspended indefinitely, though co-producer Anjul Nigam was confident the film would resume production once the investigation ends. However, Nigam later clarified that he meant to express optimism and hope, rather than confidence, as he stated that many involved in the production hope to honor Hutchins by completing her final work.Spider bite incident
In November 2021, weeks after the shooting incident, lamp operator and pipe rigger Jason Miller was bitten in the arm by a brown recluse spider while closing the set. Miller suffered necrosis and sepsis. He was hospitalized and underwent multiple surgeries to avoid amputation of his arm.
Resumed production
In October 2022, the Hutchins family settled the lawsuit, with filming set to resume in January 2023 in California, with Matthew Hutchins, Halyna's husband, as an executive producer. Many of the film's crew gave mixed reactions towards the news, with some supporting it and planning on resuming their work on it, but others condemning the decision and deciding not to return. On January 18, filming was delayed again after New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies decided to charge Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter. In February 2023, it was reported that filming would resume in spring 2023 with Souza directing and Bianca Cline as cinematographer. Grant Hill was added as producer. The new shooting location was reported to be Yellowstone Film Ranch in Livingston, Montana. Producers stated that the use of working weapons or ammunition would be prohibited.
Production of the film resumed on April 20, 2023. The same day, it was reported that prosecutors had informed Baldwin that the charges against him were being dropped and the new, updated cast was released. Meanwhile Patrick Scott McDermott was confirmed to have replaced Brady Noon. By May 2023, the character played by Josh Hopkins was confirmed to have replaced that of Ackles, who had left because of scheduling conflicts. On April 24, 2023, Baldwin returned to the set to finish filming his scenes, with the production concluding on May 22, 2023.
Release
Rust is scheduled to be released in the United States by The Avenue.
Marketing
A first look at the film was released on January 2, 2024, showcasing Halyna Hutchins' work on the cinematography and her visual style.
See also
Explanatory notes
References
External links
This article uses material from the Wikipedia English article Rust (upcoming film), which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license ("CC BY-SA 3.0"); additional terms may apply (view authors). Content is available under CC BY-SA 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
®Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wiki Foundation, Inc. Wiki English (DUHOCTRUNGQUOC.VN) is an independent company and has no affiliation with Wiki Foundation.