The first images of Rust, the western by Joel Suza, have been revealed by the website Deadline. The film stars Alec Baldwin as outlaw Harlan Rust, who comes out of retirement to save his thirteen-year-old grandson, Lucas Hollister (Patrick Scott McDermott), who is sentenced to hang for murder. Rust is currently in post-production and does not yet have a release date.
The making of the film was profoundly affected by the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Of the five photos, two bear his artistic touch, specifies the American media: the one showing the actress Frances Fisher near a door and the one showing a rider. The others were taken by Bianca Cline, who replaced Hutchins when production on the film resumed after the accident.
On October 21, 2021, actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with a prop gun when the shot went off, firing a live bullet that killed Halyna Hutchins, and another that injured the producer. The production was already experiencing difficulties: shortly before the accident, employees had gone on strike to protest the lack of safety measures on set. Filming stopped immediately, but resumed eighteen months later, following an agreement with the Hutchins family; Halyna Hutchins’ husband is now the film’s executive producer.
Although Alec Baldwin was once charged with manslaughter, the charges against him were dropped. To date, only first assistant director David Halls, who pleaded guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon, has been sentenced to six months of stand-alone probation. The gunsmith who provided the actor with a loaded pistol, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, will be tried in February, according to the Deadline website.
