The Brief

LOS ANGELES - The embattled "Rust" movie premieres in the U.S. on Friday.

The film is set to have a limited theatrical release and will be available to stream on Apple TV, Prime Video and other platforms for $14.99, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Despite the controversy and tragedy surrounding the making of the film and its crew, the movie has received some surprisingly positive reviews.

Honoring Halyna Hutchins

During the world premiere in Poland last year, a moment of silence and dedication was held for the late cinematographer for the film, Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot by the movie’s lead, Alec Baldwin, in an accident on the set three years ago.

Director Joel Souza told the audience at the time that while he couldn’t imagine continuing with production after the tragic loss, Hutchins’ husband, Matthew, wanted the film to be finished and even came on as an executive producer.

"It was important to him that the people who knew and loved Halyna get to see her final work," Souza said. The mission became "to preserve every single frame that I could of hers, and to honor her final work."

Hutchins, 42, was a Ukrainian cinematographer on the rise and a mother of a young son. She grew up on a remote Soviet military base and worked on documentary films in Eastern Europe before studying film in Los Angeles and embarking on a promising movie-making career.

What happened?

In October 2021, while on the set of "Rust," Hutchins was shot and killed by a prop gun.

Baldwin and the crew were setting up a shot that required Baldwin to cross-draw a revolver and point the weapon at the camera.

However, thanks to a shadow that was coming into the church structure from light outside, the camera had to be adjusted to a different angle.

Baldwin was working with the director and the cinematographer demonstrating how he was going to draw his revolver from its holster and where his arm would be for the new shot. While demonstrating, the firearm went off.

Souza explained that he heard "what sounded like a whip and then a loud pop," and noticed Hutchins, who was standing in front of him at the time, grab her midsection as she stumbled backward. She "was assisted to the ground" by other crew members and camera operator Reid Russell recalls Hutchins saying she could not feel her legs.

Hutchins was immediately attended to by on-site medics and later airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she was eventually pronounced dead.

Souza, who was also injured in the incident, was taken by ambulance to Christus St.

Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe where he was treated and released for a wound near his right shoulder.

Baldwin’s case dismissed

Baldwin was charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and faced up to 18 months in prison if convicted.

But in July 2024, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case based on misconduct by police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defense.

The case-ending evidence, revealed during testimony, was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff’s office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins’ killing.

Prosecutors said they deemed the ammo unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin’s lawyers alleged they "buried" it and filed a motion to dismiss the case.

Baldwin and other producers still face civil lawsuits from Hutchins’ parents and sister, and from crew members.

Hutchins’ widower and young son had agreed to settle their own lawsuit about a year after the shooting, with the widower becoming an executive producer on the then-unfinished film.

The "30 Rock" star filed a lawsuit against New Mexico prosecutors in January, accusing them and investigators of malicious prosecution, civil rights violations and defamation.

Hanna Gutierrez-Reed convicted

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the film’s armorer, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on an involuntary manslaughter conviction.

Prosecutors in April 2024 described a "cascade of safety violations" on the movie set that only started with Gutierrez-Reed.

At sentencing, Gutierrez-Reed said she had tried to do her best on the set despite not having "proper time, resources and staffing," and that she was not the monster that people have made her out to be.

But Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said the maximum sentence was appropriate given Gutierrez-Reed’s recklessness.