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Halyna Hutchins was a rising star cinematographer when she was accidentally killed in October, 2021 on the set of Rust. The small indie was not yet completed at the time of Halyna’s untimely death, but in 2023 the cast and crew reassembled to finish the film, with another female DP (Bianca Cline) seeing Halyna’s vision to completion. It’s an unbearably tragic story. Still, I believe that coming back to finish Rust, so that it can be seen by audiences, is the best possible tribute that can be made to Halyna’s life and legacy. And now the release is almost upon us. The trailer just debuted, and the film will be released on May 2.
Alec Baldwin’s long-delayed film Rust is finally getting its debut — and PEOPLE is exclusively debuting the first trailer.
In the Western set in 1880s Wyoming, Baldwin, 67, plays Harland Rust, an outlaw who comes out of hiding to save his 13-year-old grandson (Patrick Scott McDermott) after the boy is sentenced to hang for accidentally killing a rancher.
As the two make a run for Mexico, they’re pursued by U.S. Marshal Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins) and a menacing bounty hunter known as “Preacher” (Travis Fimmel). Frances Fisher and Jake Busey also star.
“Rust is a heartfelt and emotional story forged in the struggles of the new frontier — a story of the ripples that a single violent act can send through generations and the hard-fought redemption to be found in a world where the line between good and evil can often by unclear,” Melina Spadone, a representative of Rust Movie Productions LLC, said in a statement.
The film is written and directed by Joel Souza from a story by Souza and Baldwin.
Spadone also noted the “beautiful cinematography of Halyna Hutchins,” the crew member who tragically died on the New Mexico set in 2021.
…Bianca Cline, the cinematographer who finished the film, previously praised Hutchins’ work on the movie.
“I’m in awe of how much people admired her and just how talented she is,” Cline told PEOPLE last year. “I think that cinematographers sometimes get relegated to being seen as technicians, but I think that Halyna elevated it to an art.”
“A story of the ripples that a single violent act can send through generations…” Egads. Was this a logline from the pitch meeting years ago that no one thought to edit after everything that’s happened? After watching the trailer, though, it really does seem like a central theme — the weight of accidental actions that can’t be undone. Which tells me that watching this film is going to be even harder than I thought it was, and I thought it was going to be plenty hard and emotional already. Yet I am still committed to watching it, because, as I mentioned, I feel it’s about honoring Halyna. Going off of the stunning visuals in this trailer, my gosh was she talented. The play between light and dark is so consciously and thoughtfully done, really artistic work, like Halyna’s colleague Bianca Cline says. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the cinematography community rallies behind Halyna, and that she gets a posthumous Oscar nomination for her work. I really think it could happen, and it makes me teary.
I guess Jensen Ackles was recast. I thought he was supposed to play the Marshall.
He wisely left after the shooting due to “scheduling” issues. He was on set the day of the shooting and they found a live bullet mixed in with prop bullets in his bandolier.
Will be busy so not going to see this movie.
I agree that her work should be seen and appreciated, but I wish somehow Baldwin could have been cut out of the movie. After that reality show he should be shunned and blacklisted by Hollywood.
I’m thinking of Brandon Lee and The Crow. How was that movie received when it was released? His death didn’t stop me from watching it when I was a kid – on cable before my mom got home. And I still love it today. It’s a great memorial to his work. Unfortunately, his death didn’t change anything. Hopefully Halyna Hutchins’s death will.
I certainly appreciate the cinematography in the trailer- it is gorgeous. But i don’t think i can watch it. Due to the actual death.
Also, i do not care for westerns, as a rule.
Though i totally watched the crow- i don’t recall what Jon Erik Hexum was working on when he had his fatal accident in the 80s (he put a gun to his head as a joke b/c it was a frustratingly long filming day, and pulled the trigger, and the little piece of whatever that makes a “blank” a blank came out forcefully enough to kill him- again, not enough safety training around using real guns in movies)
Baldwin seems like a ticking time bomb at this point.
He has too many kids to be rich enough to be “eccentric” and live privately.
So he has to hustle, with a public persona.
He and the insane wife- it just seems like its headed down a not good road.
It was this thread that made me realize they truly thought Alec was going to be convicted, so the reality show was intended as Hilaria + 7 to keep their kids in nannies and private school. I don’t buy that they’ll ever be poor, but they don’t want to be kinda rich either.