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Alec Baldwin's upcoming film Rust is beginning its festival release — but the years leading up to the movie have been plagued with controversy.
In October 2021, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed after Baldwin was reported to have fired a gun, which was thought to be a prop gun, while rehearsing a scene that involved his character pointing a firearm at the camera.
During an appearance at Torino Film Festival, Baldwin spoke with Variety for an article published on Monday, November 25, in which he said he hadn't seen the final cut of Rust and that he does not have any plans to watch it in the near future.
"Right now, no," Baldwin said before continuing, "Only because this is obviously the most difficult thing I've ever dealt with in my life." Baldwin went on to explain, "Beyond the victims themselves, the thing that most pains me is what it did to my wife. My wife has been very, very traumatized from this. There has been a lot of pain. When you are married to somebody and everything was going fairly well and we had seven kids...and the floor falls out. It's very frightening and very disturbing."
Since the shooting incident, Baldwin has maintained a low profile. He began trial for involuntary manslaughter in July, however, within two weeks, judge Marlowe Sommer issued a decision granting the defense's motion to dismiss the case.
But despite Baldwin and Rust's legal troubles, he was determined to finish the movie, and ultimately, make things right with Hutchins' family.
"In order to finish the film — and this is the only thing I can say about it because I have another pending [civil] case — we traveled to Montana. All my doctors told me 'Don't go' — mental health practitioners, cardiologists," Baldwin said. "I mean, I was very sick afterwards for a while, physically drained and ill. But I went."
He continued, saying, "I said to Joel [Souza, Rust director], "Are you going to do it? If you think it's important to do this, I'll do it. If it's the only way we can settle the case with [Hutchins'] husband and the estate is to finish the film, let's do it."
Rust premiered on Wednesday, November 20 at Polish film festival Camerimage, however, Baldwin was not invited to the screening. Halyna's widower, Matthew Hutchins, is credited as an executive producer on the film and will receive a percentage of its earnings.
At the time of writing, neither a distributor nor a date for a wide release for Rust have been set. But despite Baldwin's reservations about seeing the movie, he hopes the film does well and that Matthew and Halyna's family pulls in a good amount of money.
"...I hope the film is released, that it comes out. That it makes its money back for its investors," Baldwin says. "You never want these people who believed in your project to be left high and dry. And I hope the movie is sold, and that [Matthew] gets his money. We all made a deal with him and we all want to follow through."
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