Three years after the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Alec Baldwin’s Western film “Rust” will finally be making its world premiere, but without the actor in attendance.
The movie is set to be shown late next month at the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival in Toruń, Poland, event organizers announced Thursday.
Star and producer Baldwin — who was holding a prop gun when it misfired a live round, killing 42-year-old Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza — is not expected to attend the event, a source told The Hollywood Reporter.
The specialty festival, which highlights achievements in cinematography, said Thursday a panel discussion will be held following the screening to honor Hutchins’ memory and “remind the world of her legacy.”
Souza is scheduled to be a speaker alongside Bianca Cline, the cinematographer who stepped in to complete the film after a wrongful death lawsuit was settled by Baldwin and his co-producers.
“The filmmakers will discuss events surrounding the film, offering insight into continuing production after Halyna’s death … [and how Cline] managed to remarkably replicate Halyna’s style,” festival 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.”
The film’s premiere will come roughly four months after Baldwin was cleared of involuntary manslaughter when his trial was dramatically dismissed in mid-July.
Just two days after opening arguments, New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice, based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over withholding of evidence from Baldwin’s defense. She said the case cannot be filed again.
Following the judge’s ruling, Baldwin broke down in the courtroom, hugging his two attorneys and then his crying wife Hilaria. He could have faced up to 18 months behind bars if convicted.
Hilaria Baldwin speaks to her husband, actor Alec Baldwin, during his trial for involuntary manslaughter for the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during filming of the Western movie “Rust,” Friday, July 12, 2024, at Santa Fe County District Court in Santa Fe, N.M. (Ramsay de Give/Pool Photo via AP)
However, “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed did not meet the same happy fate. On Monday, Judge Marlowe Sommer upheld her conviction for involuntary manslaughter, despite her attorneys arguing the same “suppressed evidence” that got Baldwin’s case tossed could have cleared her as well.
Gutierrez-Reed is currently serving 18 months in prison after being convicted in March.
Set in 1880s Wyoming, “Rust” stars Patrick Scott McDermott as a 13-year-old boy who’s left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the deaths of their parents. He goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather, played by Baldwin, who’s sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.