‘Rust’ Movie To Premiere Three Years After Fatal Shooting, Alec Baldwin Not Expected

“Rust” will premiere three years after the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico film set — where a gun Alec Baldwin was holding discharged a bullet, leaving her dead and injuring writer-director Joel Souza.

Baldwin’s indie western will have its world premiere at Poland’s Camerimage International Film Festival in late November, with Souza expected to appear along with cinematographer Bianca Cline, who stepped in to finish the film after a wrongful death lawsuit was settled in October 2022, the Hollywood Reporter reported. 

However, sources with knowledge of the situation said that Baldwin, the star of the movie and lead producer, is not expected to be at the premiere.

Organizers called Hutchins the “Ukrainian cinematographer who was part of the festival family,” and said it was always her dream to see the movie premiere at Camerimage, according to the festival.

‘Rust’ gets a premiere date — 3 years after tragedy struck set — but will Alec Baldwin be there? https://t.co/8lyo6YlGMw pic.twitter.com/a0xbd0aGC2

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“The filmmakers will discuss events surrounding the film, offering insight into continuing production after Halyna’s death,” Camerimage organizers said. “Maintaining Hutchins’ artistic vision, as tremendously challenging as it was for the entire crew, was really important to the filmmakers, hoping to fulfill their duty to complete her work.”

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“Halyna’s story will serve as a starting point for a conversation about the role of women in cinematography and their contributions to the art of filmmaking,” the statement added. “Another key topic of the discussion will be safety on set.”

Speaking recently to Vanity Fair, Souza talked about the fatal shooting, returning to the film set, and finishing the film Hutchins was shooting, making it clear the fatal scene she had shot has 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.”

The armorer in charge of weapons on set, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, was previously sentenced to 18 months in prison for her role in Hutchins’ death.

Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter. He faced up to 18 months in prison. However, the charges were dismissed on the third day of his trial in July, with the judge ruling prosecution hid evidence from the defense.

The Camerimage festival will take place Nov. 16-23 in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Toruń, Poland.

Related: ‘Rust’ Filmmaker Breaks Silence Following Fatal Shooting, Talks Second Filming