“Rust” will resume production Thursday in Montana, with work beginning 18 months after actor Alec Baldwin fired a live round which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while filming in New Mexico. Baldwin will return to the set just two weeks before the start of a court hearing in New Mexico to decide whether he will stand trial for a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter over the October 2021 incident.
Melina Spadone, an attorney for Rust Movie Productions, affirmed that filming would resume at Montana’s Yellowstone Film Ranch set. Baldwin settled a lawsuit this past October with the late Hutchins’ husband, Matt Hutchins, which involved filming restarting with the same actors and with Joel Souza remaining in the director’s chair.
Souza was wounded in the shooting and under the settlement Hutchins would become an executive producer on the film. Bianca Cline, who previously lensed “Marcel The Shell With Shoes On,” will take over as director of cinematography.
Along with criminally related perils, the incident unleashed civil lawsuits, including one filed in early February by Halyna Hutchins’ parents and sister, and another filed in late February by three “Rust” crewmembers claiming PTSD stemming from the on-set incident. Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the above-noted charges of involuntary manslaughter.
