Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ case dismissed by judge over ‘suppressed’ evidence
Alec Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charge was abruptly dismissed with prejudice. He cannot be retried for involuntary manslaughter.
The troubled Alec Baldwin movie “Rust” is set for release more than three years after its cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on set, and the first footage has arrived.
A trailer for the Western was released Wednesday, teasing a look at Baldwin in the lead role of outlaw Harland Rust.
“Rust” takes place in the 1880s and follows an orphaned boy, played by Patrick Scott McDermott, who is sentenced to hang after he accidentally kills a rancher.
“In a twist of fate, his estranged grandfather,” Baldwin’s Harland Rust, “breaks him out of jail and takes him on the run toward Mexico,” according to the official plot synopsis. “As they flee across the unforgiving wilderness, the fugitive pair must outrun the determined U.S. Marshal Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins) and a ruthless bounty hunter named ‘Preacher’ (Travis Fimmel).”
The trailer was first revealed by People magazine, which reported that the film will be released on May 2 in select theaters and on digital platforms. The movie completed production in 2023 after a prop gun Baldwin was holding accidentally went off and fatally struck Hutchins in 2021.
Baldwin has said he was told the gun he was holding during rehearsal on “Rust” did not contain any live rounds and that he did not pull the trigger prior to the accident, which also injured director Joel Souza.
The “30 Rock” star was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but the case was dismissed in July over allegations that prosecutors suppressed evidence. In January, Baldwin filed a lawsuit alleging prosecutors violated his civil rights and defamed him.
The armorer on “Rust,” Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in April for involuntary manslaughter.
“Rust” finished production in 2023, with Bianca Cline being brought on as cinematographer, after Baldwin settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Hutchins’ family in 2022. Part of the settlement was that Hutchins’ widow, Matthew Hutchins, would serve as an executive producer.
“I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work,” Hutchins said at the time.
“Rust” premiered in November at a Polish film festival without Baldwin in attendance. Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, criticized the premiere, saying in a statement, “Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death.” A representative for Rust Movie Productions told USA TODAY at the time that the “decision to complete ‘Rust’ was made with the full support of Halyna’s family.”
According to Deadline, the movie ends with a tribute to Hutchins that reads, “For Halyna.”
Contributing: Brian Truitt, Naledi Ushe and KiMi Robinson
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