The director of Rust has said he would gladly go back in time to prevent the movie from ever being made if he knew it could save cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ life.
Speaking with The Guardian, writer/director Joel Souza said that he ultimately decided to complete the film to honor Halyna Hutchins.
“[Hutchins’ family] wanted it completed,” Souza said. “I’d been repelled by the thought of going back, but [then] it started to appeal. And I couldn’t live with the idea of someone else doing it.”
If he had it his way, however, he would have stopped the movie from ever being made.
“Talk about the butterfly effect — I wish I never wrote the damn movie,” he said. “You think about the chain of events that started that morning [of the shooting]. Bad decision after bad decision was made.”
On October 21, 2021, while filming the western movie Rust, Alec Baldwin shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal. Baldwin claimed the revolver that he had been given from the AD suddenly fired when he pulled back the hammer and consistently maintained stating that he did not pull the trigger. Subsequent analysis of the firearm from the FBI later concluded that “the trigger had to be pulled or depressed sufficiently to release the fully cocked or retracted hammer of the evidence revolver.” Souza was also wounded by the gunshot.
Though Baldwin still faces a potential civil trial for his role in Hutchins’ death, the actor’s criminal trial for involuntary manslaughter was dismissed lastt summer after the judge ruled that the prosecution had withheld evidence. Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the film’s armorer, has been serving an 18-month prison sentence for loading a live bullet in the gun that Baldwin fired.
Souza told The Guardian that he has no relationship with Alec Baldwin, though he had some unkind words to say about his reality show The Baldwins on Max.
“We’re not friends,” Souza said of Baldwin. “We’re not enemies. There’s no relationship.”
Souza said that he has not and will not watch Baldwin’s reality show.
“I think I was busy hitting myself in the face with a frying pan that night [it aired],” Souza said.
Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
