The first footage from Alec Baldwin’s film Rust has been released, more than three years after the tragic on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
“Somethings in this life you can’t get back, I reckon,” Baldwin’s character, Harland Rust, says to Patrick Scott McDermott’s Lucas in the newly unveiled trailer, which premiered on Wednesday, March 25.
The film’s plot revolves around Lucas, an orphan sentenced to hang after unintentionally killing a rancher.
His grandfather, played by Baldwin, rescues him, and together they flee from a relentless bounty hunter, Fenton “Preacher” Lang, portrayed by Travis Fimmel.
The trailer offers a glimpse into numerous action-packed sequences, featuring intense gunfights, including what appears to be a dramatic shoot-out towards the end of the teaser. “Heaven ain’t waiting on either one of us,” Baldwin’s character warns an unseen adversary.
The debut of the trailer comes three years after a prop firearm discharged during filming in October 2021, resulting in director Joel Souza’s injury and the death of Hutchins at age 42.
“There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours,” Baldwin, now 66, wrote via X at the time.
“I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”
The family of Hutchins filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the 30 Rock alum in February 2022, alleging that Baldwin and other crew members engaged in “reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures” that ultimately led to her death.
Baldwin, however, maintained that he did not pull the trigger on the prop gun, which he believed was not loaded.
In October of that year, Baldwin reached an undisclosed settlement with Hutchins’ family, but in January 2023, he and Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were both charged with involuntary manslaughter.
“The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the Rust film set,” special prosecutor Andrea Reeb stated at the time. “In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously.”
Baldwin pleaded not guilty to the charges, which were eventually dropped in April 2023. However, in January 2024, he was indicted once again for involuntary manslaughter.
Following a trial that concluded in July 2024, he was acquitted of all charges. One juror told that she believed the incident was “clearly an accident.”
Earlier in 2024, Baldwin filed a lawsuit against the prosecutors handling the Rust shooting case, accusing them of malicious prosecution and civil rights violations. In his January 9 filing, Baldwin asserted that evidence that could have exonerated him had been withheld.
Meanwhile, Gutierrez-Reed, after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March 2024, sought a new trial in July of that year.
Her request was ultimately denied, and she was sentenced to 18 months in prison, with her release request being rejected in September 2024.
Rust is scheduled to premiere in theaters and on digital platforms on Friday, May 2.
