Rust Filming Restarts With Alec Baldwin, Replica Guns and Rubber Bullets: There Are N

“Rust” has officially restarted production in Montana, a year and a half after the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was killed when a prop gun held by star Alec Baldwin discharged.

According to The New York Times‘ Julia Jacobs, who visited the movie’s set on Yellowstone Film Ranch, the production isn’t taking any chances this time around, as real guns are not allowed on the premises.

“I’ve said it, and I’m going to say it every single time: There are no weapons on set,” first assistant director Gerard DiNardi told the crew, according to the Times. “There is nothing that fires. There are a lot of facsimiles of weapons, from rubber to replicas.”

In the aftermath of the October 2021 shooting — which also injured director Joel Souza, who has returned to the film — both Baldwin and former armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin’s charges were dropped last week, but special prosecutors have said that the investigation remains “active and ongoing” and charges could be refiled against the actor.

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Per the New York Times’ report, the film’s new armorer, Andrew Wert, said that the dummy rounds being used are made of rubber and wood and painted gold. Hutchins, 42, was killed by a real bullet that had made its way into the gun Baldwin was holding. Each time Wert — who has worked on films like “Dallas Buyers Club” and “The Duel” — brings a gun on set, he announces that it is a replica and will not fire. According to the Times, Wert has reengineered the guns so that they cannot fire and keeps them locked in a password-protected case in between scenes.

According to the Times, the ranch was assessed by a pair of safety supervisors a month before production started and union representatives are on-hand to observe scenes that are deemed high risk. The budget has been upped from $6.5 million to $8 million, and the schedule was extended from 22 to 24 days to allow for “extra care,” producer Ryan Smith told the Times.

Bianca Cline is taking over as cinematographer for the film, and Hutchins’ husband has joined as an executive producer. A documentary is in the works about Hutchins’ life and the process of finishing the film after her death. Before the film restarted production, Souza paid tribute to Hutchins in an address to the crew.

“There have been days leading up to today when I honestly didn’t know how I was going to get out of bed in the morning. And the reason I could was all of you,” Souza said, per the Times. “I know she’d be anxious for us to get to work, so why don’t we do that?… We get to make a movie today. We might as well make it a good one.”

The “Rust” shooting has sparked industry change, with acclaimed action director Guy Ritchie also banning real guns from all of his movie sets.

“That whole thing has changed now, the whole game has changed. We haven’t used a real weapon since [the ‘Rust’ shooting],” Ritchie told Newsweek. “So there were no real weapons. It’s the first shoot that we had, which I have to tell you, it’s a tremendous relief for all of us. [Airsoft weapons] look as good as real weapons, they do all the functions as a real weapon. You get a gas discharge. It all seems as authentic as it can be, but… it’s Airsoft though. No one can get into any trouble.”

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Tandra Barner

Update: 2024-08-13

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