On October 21, 2021, there was a tragic accident during the shooting of the Western Rust – Legend of the West. Leading actor Alec Baldwin fired a weapon that was invited with a sharp ammunition and met two crew members: camera woman Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza. While Souza was only injured on the shoulder, Hutchins died of the consequences of her gunshot wound in the upper body.
Since then, the set accident has overshadowed the entire production, so that it was questionable whether Rust has ever come to the cinema. In the end, they decided to complete the film and bring it to the big screen. Now there is the first trailer to give us an insight into the dusty western, in which a grandfather with his nephew is on the run from a bounty hunter.
First trailer for the Western Rust with Alec Baldwin unveiled
Rust – Trailer (English) HD
At the center of the history of Rust is 13-year-old Lucas Hollister (Patrick Scott McDermott), who threatens the gallows. At the last second with Harland Rust (Alec Baldwin), not only a sought -after Outlaw appears, which surprisingly saves his life. Rust also turns out to be a grandfather of the boy, who had no idea that his family tree extends so far into the past.
Together, the two take flight from the law – and the bounty hunter Fenton “Preacher” Lang (Travis Fimmel), who has been targeting Rust for a while. What follows is a journey through bleak western landscapes, in which the unequal protagonists of the film get to know each other better. It quickly becomes clear that in addition to himself, the grandfather and his grandson cannot trust anyone.
How did the fatal accident in the Rust shoot came about?
Even before the accident, there were complaints about the working conditions at Rust, which extended from unpaid salaries over long days of shooting to little safety on the set. Consideration was expressed with regard to covid measures and arms use. Before the accident, three failures are said to have occurred, as the Los Angeles Times reported in October 2021.
The accident itself occurred on the twelfth day of shooting, on which several crew members laid out their work in protest. They were then replaced by people who do not belong to the IATE union who represent technicians, artists and craftsmen in the film industry and other parts of the entertainment industry in the USA. In the rehearsal for the shoot, Baldwin was unknowingly enough for a invited weapon.
Baldwin and the arms master Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged in January 2023 for negligent killing. The reason for the indictment was mentioned, among other things, weapons training, which only lasted half instead of an hour and was not taken seriously by the participants. A procedural error – intentional withholding of evidence – led to the process that was discontinued in June 2024 and cannot be resumed.
When does the Western Rust start with Alec Baldwin in the cinema?
Rust celebrated its premiere at the Polish Film Festival Camerimage last year in November, which was committed to the art of camera work. The official press release on the German theatrical release now says:
The tragic background in production throw a long shadow on the film. Director Joel Souza and his talented team completed the intensive and visual western drama about guilt, forgiveness and family, but also to honor the last work of camera hugehna Hutchins and to show them on the big screen.
Rust starts on May 1, 2025 in the German cinemas.