“Rust” director Joel Souza says he regrets writing the movie.
Souza, 51, was injured and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed while filming a scene for the movie when a prop gun held by Alec Baldwin accidentally discharged.
Baldwin&#8217;s involuntary manslaughter trial was dismissed with prejudice in July 2024 after a judge ruled that prosecutors had deliberately withheld key evidence, preventing any future charges. While Baldwin was cleared, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
The director is currently promoting the film ahead of its United States release on Friday, but appears to have mixed feelings about it.
“You think about the chain of events that started that morning. Bad decision after bad decision was made…talk about the butterfly effect,” Souza told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/apr/28/rust-joel-souza-alec-baldwin-halyna-hutchins-shooting">The Guardian</a> in a newly published interview. “I wish I never wrote the damn movie.”
The “Rust” director also discussed his apprehension with firearms. “I didn’t grow up around [guns] and I don’t like the culture,” he said. “Guns make me recoil. The idea of touching one, picking one up, I find very off-putting.”
However, using guns was necessary for making a Western drama like “Rust.” Souza was planning to abandon the project unfinished. But he says Hutchins’ family insisted on something different.
“The family wanted it completed,” Souza told The Guardian. “I’d been repelled by the thought of going back, but now it started to appeal. And I couldn’t live with the idea of someone else doing it.”
“I was a mess going in and a mess coming out,” he added. “The crew carried me through. My family carried me through. Emotionally, I was all over the map.”
Previously, “Rust” premiered in Poland at the Camerimage International Film Festival in late November. Souza <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alec-baldwins-rust-trailer-drops-nearly-four-years-after-fatal-on-set-shooting?author=Katie+Jerkovich&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Alec+Baldwin%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%98Rust%E2%80%99+Trailer+Drops+Nearly+Four+Years+After+Fatal+On-Set+Shooting">confirmed</a> to Vanity Fair that the scene which included the fatal shooting had been removed “in its entirety.”
“Gone. Not just that, but also a few things leading up to it,” Souza said at the time. “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.”

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‘Wish I’d Never Written That Damn Movie:’ ‘Rust’ Director Reflects Ahead Of U.S. Release

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‘Wish I’d Never Written That Damn Movie:’ ‘Rust’ Director Reflects Ahead Of U.S. Release