The movie trailer for Alec Baldwin’s Western “Rust” dropped nearly four years after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Hutchins was killed on a New Mexico film set when a gun Baldwin was holding discharged a bullet. Writer-director Joel Souza was also injured during the incident.
“In 1880s Kansas, recently orphaned Lucas McCalister (Patrick Scott McDermott) accidentally kills a rancher and is sentenced to hang,” a description with the one-minute plus video on YouTube read.
“In a twist of fate, his estranged grandfather, the notorious outlaw Harland Rust (Academy Award nominee Alec Baldwin), breaks him out of jail and takes him on the run toward Mexico,” it added. “As they flee across the unforgiving wilderness, the fugitive pair must outrun the determined U.S. Marshal Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins) and a ruthless bounty hunter named ‘Preacher’ (Travis Fimmel).”
In November 2024, Baldwin’s indie western had its world premiere at Poland’s Camerimage International Film Festival, with Souza and cinematographer Bianca Cline, who stepped in to finish the film after a wrongful death lawsuit was settled in October 2022, in attendance, Variety noted.
Ahead of the premiere, Souza talked to Vanity Fair about the fatal shooting, returning to the film set, and finishing the movie Hutchins was shooting, making it clear the fatal scene she had shot had vanished “in its entirety.”
“Gone. Not just that, but also a few things leading up to it,” Souza said. “Everything needed to be entirely reconceived there. There were a few things that came before that now wouldn’t make story sense. So we just sort of eliminated it and came up with something entirely different.”
“I’m not going back to that,” he added. “I’m glad you asked. I don’t want anyone who ever does see this to be waiting for that. No one ever pushed to keep anything like that.”
On October 21, 2021, Baldwin began filming a scene when the gun he was holding fired a live round that killed Hutchins and injured Souza. The 66-year-old actor repeatedly maintained that there was “no trigger pull.”
He was charged with involuntary manslaughter and faced up to 18 months in prison. However, the charges were dismissed on the third day of his trial in July 2024, with the judge ruling that the prosecution had hidden evidence from the defense.
The armorer in charge of weapons on set, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for her role in Hutchins’ death.
“Rust” will be released in theaters nationwide and on digital May 2, People noted.
Related: Alec Baldwin Wins Another Court Victory After Judge Denies State’s Motion In ‘Rust’ Case
