To say that Rust has had one of the most troubled productions of any movie in recent history would be an understatement of the most severe degree. While production has concluded as of May of last year, Rust will have a hard time escaping its association with the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died tragically in an on-set incident in which Alec Baldwin unknowingly fired a live round from a prop gun on set.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer and the person responsible for handling the firearms and ammunition on set, was sentenced to 18 months in prison earlier today (April 15, 2024), while Baldwin was indicted on an involuntary manslaughter charge earlier this year after having two other manslaughter charges dropped against him in April 2023.
These days, it’s hard to tell what effect a controversy will have on a film’s reception, though it’s also hard to see a world where the film doesn’t very tangibly honor Hutchins’ contributions, talents, and life. In any case, it remains to be seen when we’ll be able to judge the handling of it all for ourselves.
Does Rust have a release date?
At the time of writing, there’s no word on a release date for the Alec Baldwin-led Western feature. All we’ve seen so far is a collection of first-look images pulled from Hutchins’ work on the film, which we can hopefully take as an omen for how Rust prepares to carry itself and its history.
Furthermore, it’s unclear whether Rust will find itself heading to cinemas or streaming when it does release. It would probably be wise to hedge one’s bets on the latter, however.
