Hollywood is still reeling from the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust. A lot of people have called for an overhaul of protocol and practices on sets for prop weapons. Despite the IATSE union dispute currently being negotiated, many cast and crew say dangerous items on set need to be handled better. In the wake of Halyna’s death, a petition was started to ban real firearms from sets and demand better working conditions for crew. As of publication time, the petition stands at close to 108,000 signatures, with a goal of 150,000. As with most tragedies, there’s some discussion as to whether anything will actually be done once the story falls out of the news cycle. Dwayne Johnson plans to. And he’s stepping up even before being asked to. While promoting his action film Red Notice, DJ announced that his production company, Seven Bucks, will only use rubber guns going forward. Furthermore, he will strive to get any studio he works with in the future to do the same.
Dwayne Johnson is promising to stop using real guns on the sets of his productions after the fatal Rust shooting last month.
The actor, 49, who owns the production company Seven Bucks, told Variety Wednesday that he plans to only use rubber guns on set going forward, and will aim to apply the same practice to any other studio he works with in the future.
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions — any movie, any television show, or anything we do or produce — we won’t use real guns at all,” Johnson told the outlet at the Red Notice premiere in Los Angeles.
He added, “We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post. We’re not going to worry about the dollars; we won’t worry about what it costs.”
“There are safety protocols and measures that we have always taken in the movie business and we take very seriously, and these sets are safe sets, and we’re proud of that. But accidents do happen,” he said.
“And when something like this happens of this magnitude, [that is] this heartbreaking, I think the most prudent thing and the smartest thing to do is just pause for a second and really re-examine how you’re going to move forward and how we’re going to work together,” he continued. “Any movie we do that Seven Bucks does with any studio, the rule is we’re not going to use real guns. That’s it.”
This is the kind of example that needs to be set. The ones who can afford to get rid of real guns should do it without it being mandated. I realize the pressure this puts on independent films because post correction is very expensive. But human life is priceless. To have movies like John Wick and now DJ’s shoot-em-up blowouts lead the charge to eliminating real guns or gun blasts is a huge statement. But that’s DJ for you. I hope more production companies follow suit and publicly announce it. Of course, wait for the first line of criticism in every review be about how fake the new guns look, right? We all need to support these changes, so they become industry standards.
Photo credit: Avalon Red and Instagram
I do not understand why real guns are ever used.. with sound effects and digital technology in the movies being so advanced there is no reason for it in my opinion. I personally would love guns to be left out of every movie.
Technical wizards don’t work cheap. I’m willing to bet producers were trying to film “Rust” with a budget that is roughly half of what the craft services budget is for the average Dwayne Johnson movie. There’s no way a low budget Western or similar movie has a big CGI budget. Over the course of more than a century of film and TV production think of the millions of blank rounds that have been discharged with only a handful of fatal mishaps. That handful is still two handfuls too many, but when the safety rules are followed it’s going to be difficult to convince content makers to spend $200k to digitally replace an effect that a $2 blank can produce.
I’m hoping the industry moves in this direction… it only makes sense. PS: Why isn’t Celebitchy covering the Baldwin situation anymore? After the super strange outdoor “presser” with Hilaria and the Halloween and Lost Cat Instagram posts… I’d guess you would get some interesting discussion regarding the way they are handling this tragedy. Curious.
I agree! There’s also some weirdness with the Rust armorer claiming a conspiracy, even though there are reports that the guns were left unattended for two hours.
Meh… I’m just a girl wondering when this concern and energy over prop guns on movie sets will get directed towards real guns in everyday life.
People have been trying since Sandy Hook. But there is a lot of money being made by people in the gun industry and they put a ton of it in politicians pockets.
Just thinking … if there is energy over guns in movies, whether its a strong push for no-real-guns-on-set/post-production and/or an elimination of guns in movies, I wonder if that would help take the shine off of guns just in general. There’s so much glamorization of guns and weaponry in Hollywood productions that must bleed into the general consciousness in the US.