The Questionable Ethics of 'Rust' Resuming Production

On Thursday, October 21st, 2021, actor Alec Baldwin pulled the trigger on what he thought was a 'cold gun,' a real gun on the set of a movie that is not loaded. Unfortunately, this particular weapon was loaded and when Baldwin pulled the trigger, a bullet struck Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and killed her. It also wounded director Joel Souza who was looking over Hutchins' shoulder as the shot was fired. Hutchins died on the way to the hospital.

A subsequent investigation of the shooting still has not been resolved nearly one year later. Nevertheless, on October 5th, 2022, Director Joel Souza and the production team behind Rust, a western starring Alec Baldwin, will resume production of the film soon. The decision was made to continue after reaching a financial settlement with the family of Halyna Hutchins. Director Souza released a statement accompanying the announcement that claimed that resuming filming of Rust would be a tribute to Halyna Hutchins.

Honoring Halyna Hutchins?

Regardless of the platitudes, resuming production of Rust is a cold and calculated business decision. For all of the supposed tributes and dedications to Halyna Hutchins, the cold hard reality here is that the people who invested money in making Rust want to make their money. Not only that, but the film now has a higher profile than it would ever have had had this on set tragedy not occurred. While we can only speculate about the motivations of the Rust production team, they can't escape the fact that Rust went from a likely candidate for the vast Video on Demand Rental market to a movie that carries a morbid curiosity around it.

Of the many issues that must be wrestled with is the idea that due to the death of Halyna Hutchins, Rust has a higher profile than ever before. The New York Times, arguably the biggest of the big in American journalism announced the resumption of production on Rust in a Breaking News blast. That's coverage normally reserved for high budget blockbusters, not for obscure westerns starring Alec Baldwin. Prior to the death of Halyna Hutchins, most film consumers were unlikely to ever know Rust had been made. Now, with the tragedy, the film is front page news.

Morbid Curiosity

No matter what Alec Baldwin, Director Joel Souza, or the production team behind Rust says, the reality is they are capitalizing on the death of Halyna Hutchins. They can blame the media, they can blame the film consuming public for only wanting to see their movie out of morbid curiosity, but they can't escape the fact that any dollar made on this movie is now blood money. The entire profile of this film is now related specifically to this tragedy.

Let's be real here, if the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins never happened, Rust would have been produced and released as less than a blip on the pop cultural landscape. Proof of this concept, can you tell me what the movie Blind is about without looking it up? That film has both Alec Baldwin and Demi Moore as its stars and it was not released to theaters. The film grossed less than $100,000 on a $1.2 million dollar budget. People aren't seeing movies to see Alec Baldwin. That's not a reflection on his talent, just his appeal as a movie star. Thus, it's not at all a stretch to say Rust wasn't going to make money because it starred Alec Baldwin.

A Morbid Coincidence

Rust is likely to make money now based solely on the death of Halyna Hutchins. Her death raised the profile of this movie far higher than it would have been even if the film were one of the great westerns of all time. The film could have been a true classic but few people were ever going to see it until Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set and a mystery/crime story emerged after trying to determine how the tragedy occurred. There is something inherently ghoulish, gross, and calculated in the idea that they are now going to finish and release Rust. If perhaps the producers and Mr. Baldwin were to give up their salaries and profits from the film to Halyna Hutchins' family or a worthy charity, it could escape the perception that the makers are cashing in on the tragedy but they aren't doing that.

Meanwhile, in a truly morbid coincidence, tragedy seems to be following Baldwin wherever he goes these days. The movie Baldwin made immediately before Rust is another film that is wrestling with its status as a subject of morbid curiosity. Supercell is an action movie about storm chasers in which Baldwin co-starred alongside Anne Heche. Heche died earlier this year after what was determined to be a drunk driving accident combined with a mental health crisis. Heche drove her car at high speed into a Los Angeles home and died shortly after an explosion. The makers of Supercell are looking to release that film later this year to morbid curiosity of those who want to see Anne Heche's last film role. At least the makers of Supercell weren't aware their star was going to tragically die when they made the movie. They can somewhat escape the notion of capitalizing on Heche's death. The makers of Rust cannot escape this perception no matter how they spin the idea of finishing the movie as a 'tribute' to Halyna Hutchins.

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