Alec Baldwin in first trailer for Rust following on-set death of crew member
By Hannah Roberts, PA Entertainment Reporter
Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin can be seen playing an outlaw in the first trailer for Rust, following the on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin in the death of Hutchins, during a rehearsal on the movie set outside Santa Fe in October 2021, was dismissed by a judge in July 2024.
Baldwin, 66, the lead actor and co-producer of the film, was pointing a gun when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
“The only order that exists in this world is the order we impose,” a voiceover says in a trailer for the film, uploaded to YouTube by an account titled “Rust”.
The film, set in Kansas in the 1880s, follows recently orphaned Lucas McCalister (Patrick Scott McDermott) who accidentally kills a rancher and is sentenced to hang, according to a synopsis.
Baldwin plays his estranged grandfather, the notorious outlaw Harland Rust, who breaks Lucas out of jail and takes him on the run toward Mexico.
The pair attempt to evade the law as well as US Marshal Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins) and bounty hunter “Preacher” (Travis Fimmel) as they traverse the unforgiving wilderness.
The teaser, which features horseback riding, harsh terrain, and lots of guns, ends with Baldwin saying “Heaven ain’t waiting on neither one of us” – before a dramatic shoot-out.
In December 2024, New Mexico prosecutors decided not pursue an appeal of a court’s decision to dismiss Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter charge.
In January, the actor, known for films including Beetlejuice and The Departed, filed a lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations against those involved in pursuing criminal charges against him over the death of Hutchins.
A judge had thrown out the case in July 2024 based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of ammunition evidence from the defence.
According to US publication People, which was the first to report news of the trailer, Rust will be released to cinemas and digitally on May 2 in the US. It did not reveal the film’s UK release date.