Alec Baldwin Rust shooting: Details of film restart announced – with documentary about cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ life also in the works
Filming on the western film Rust will resume in the spring, producers have announced, more than a year on from the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set.
A documentary about Hutchins‘ life and final work, which will include the completion of the movie, is also in the works alongside the production, supported by her husband.
The 42-year-old died after a prop gun held by Rust star and producer Alec Baldwin, 64, was discharged during rehearsals in October 2021. Director Joel Souza was also wounded in the incident, which took place on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Moment Baldwin learns of Hutchins’ death
In January, following a lengthy investigation, Baldwin and the film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, were charged with involuntary manslaughter, while assistant director Dave Halls has entered into a plea agreement to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.
Baldwin’s lawyer has called the case a “terrible miscarriage of justice” and vowed to fight the charges. The star is also facing a new civil lawsuit from Hutchins’ parents and sister.
Despite the legal cases, he is due to return to the film in his acting role and as a producer, Sky News understands. Filming will no longer take place in New Mexico, but as yet, no details about the new location have been announced.
As previously announced, Souza will return to direct, and the cinematographer’s husband Matthew Hutchins – who settled a civil lawsuit in October – will serve as an executive producer. He will be joined by the Oscar-nominated Grant Hill (The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life), alongside the original producers.
A statement from Rust Movie Productions said Matthew Hutchins had chosen cinematographer Bianca Cline (Marcel the Shell With Shoes On) to complete his wife’s vision for the film, and that she will donate her salary to charity.
The production will continue to use union crew members and will bar any use of working weapons and any form of ammunition. “Live ammunition is – and always was – prohibited on set,” the producers said.
‘Completing what Halyna and I started’
In a statement, Souza said: “Though bittersweet, I am grateful that a brilliant and dedicated new production team joining former cast and crew are committed to completing what Halyna and I started.
“My every effort on this film will be devoted to honouring Halyna’s legacy and making her proud. It is a privilege to see this through on her behalf.”
Two safety officers will be among the new crew members joining the production, Rust Movie Productions said, while original crew members returning include stunt co-ordinator Allan Graf and costume designer Terese Davis.
The documentary on Hutchins’ life will be directed by Rachel Mason, with Julee Metz producing and Matthew Hutchins also serving as executive producer.
“Both Mason and Metz were close friends with Halyna, and they look forward to working with the production to honour their friend,” the producers’ statement said.
What happens next in the criminal case?
Baldwin is due to make his first court appearance in relation to the case on Friday 24 February. He is likely to appear virtually.
In her report, Santa Fe’s district attorney alleged the actor had shown “wilful disregard” for the safety of others in the days leading up to the incident and was not present for “mandatory” firearms training.
Instead, he had undergone a 30-minute on-set session, during which he was distracted by a phone call to his family, the prosecutor said.
Her statement added that on the day of the shooting, there were “no less than a dozen acts, or omissions of recklessness” on the set in the period prior to the incident.
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Baldwin was ‘talking on phone’ during gun training, prosecutor claims
Baldwin to make first court appearance over fatal shooting
Baldwin is facing two charges of involuntary manslaughter in relation to Hutchins’ death.
The first can be referred to as involuntary manslaughter and requires proof of underlying negligence. The second charge is involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act, which requires proof that there was more than simple negligence involved in a death; it also includes a firearm enhancement, which makes the crime punishable by a mandatory five years in prison.
The star is attempting to have the more serious charge thrown out. Lawyers for the actor argue that New Mexico prosecutors committed an “unconstitutional and elementary legal error” by charging him under a statute that did not exist at the time of the fatal shooting.
The new lawsuit from Hutchins’ Ukrainian family
Pic: Santa Fe Police
Meanwhile, a civil lawsuit has been filed by Hutchins’ Ukrainian parents and younger sister, who works as a nurse on the outskirts of the capital city of Kyiv and is married to a man fighting in the war against Russia.
The new lawsuit alleges negligence and the depravation of benefits, based on the emotional or financial support that Hutchins previously provided to her sister and parents.
The lawsuit also names a list of Rust crew members, an ammunition supplier, producers of the film and affiliated businesses as defendants.
It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages as well as legal costs.
Baldwin in turn has filed his own lawsuits against people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun. He has said he was told the gun was safe.
Taylor Swift has announced she is getting married to her NFL star boyfriend Travis Kelce.
The pop star and Kansas City Chiefs tight end shared the news in a joint post on Instagram, with the caption: “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married.”
The announcement was liked more than 1.7 million times just over 30 minutes after it was posted.
Pic: Instagram / @taylorswift
Swift and Kelce started their relationship in July 2023, after the three-time Super Bowl winner said on his podcast New Heights that he tried and failed to meet the singer at her Eras Tour concert in Kansas City.
Rumours grew that the couple were dating after Swift was spotted at a number of Chiefs games. On her seventh time in the stands, she brought her father, Scott Kingsley Swift, along.
Kelce told the Wall Street Journal in November 2023: “There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner [who said]: ‘Yo! Did you know he was coming [to the Eras Tour]?’
“I had somebody playing Cupid… She told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out.”
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From January: Taylor cheers on Travis after Chiefs win
Earlier this month, Swift appeared on Kelce’s podcast, New Heights, and announced her 12th album, titled The Life Of A Showgirl.
Speaking to her now-fiance and his brother Jason Kelce, Swift said it was inspired by the Eras Tour – and also talked about Travis’s attempt at meeting her two years ago.
While she said his plan to give her his number on a friendship bracelet was a “wild, romantic gesture,” she joked he “didn’t do any proper logistical planning” and thought he would be allowed backstage.
“Because he knows the elevator lady, he thought he could talk to her about just getting down to my dressing room,” she added. “That’s how it works in 1973.”
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The new album, which will be released on 3 October, marks her first release since she took back control over her entire back catalogue from private equity firm Shamrock Capital.
Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.
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Despite rumours he would retire after losing this year’s Super Bowl, Kelce will play for the Kansas City Chiefs again this season.
He told GQ magazine his on-field performances “slipped a little bit” as he started acting, and added: “I’m just saying that my work ethic is such that I have so much pride in how I do things that I never want the product to tail off, and I feel like these past two years haven’t been to my standard.”
Entertainment
Boy, 16, convicted in Germany over supporting failed terror plot at Taylor Swift concert
A 16-year-old has been convicted in Germany for supporting a foiled plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts in Austria last year.
The teenager, named Mohammad A, who cannot be fully identified under Germany’s privacy laws, was convicted of preparing a serious act of violence and supporting a terrorist act of violence abroad.
He was handed a suspended 18-month sentence on Tuesday. According to the court, he made a “comprehensive confession” at his trial, which was held behind closed doors because of his age.
German judges found that the defendant, a Syrian national then aged 14, supported the ideology of the Islamic State group at the time.
The court heard he was also in contact via social media with a young man in Austria who planned to attack a Swift concert in Vienna, had sent him a video with bomb-building instructions, and organised contact with an IS member.
All three of Swift’s concerts at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium were cancelled in August last year after a terror plot was uncovered by authorities.
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Swiftie on cancelled Vienna show
Concert organisers had expected up to 65,000 fans inside the stadium at each concert and as many as 30,000 onlookers outside.
Authorities said the main suspect, now 20, planned to target those outside of the stadium and hoped to “kill as many people as possible”.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the directorate of state security and intelligence, added at the time that the suspect was “clearly radicalised in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels”.
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Swift later called the decision to cancel her shows in Austria “devastating,” and said: “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.
“But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives.”
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