‘Rust’ Filming Restarts With Alec Baldwin, Replica Guns and Rubber Bullets: ‘There Are No Weapons on Set’

Rust has officially restarted production in Montana, a year and a half after the films cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was killed when a prop gun held by star Alec Baldwin discharged.

According to The New York Times Julia Jacobs, who visited the movies set on Yellowstone Film Ranch, the production isnt taking any chances this time around, as real guns are not allowed on the premises.

Ive said it, and Im going to say it every single time: There are no weapons on set, first assistant director Gerard DiNardi told the crew, according to the Times. There is nothing that fires. There are a lot of facsimiles of weapons, from rubber to replicas.

In the aftermath of the October 2021 shooting which also injured director Joel Souza, who has returned to the film both Baldwin and former armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Baldwins charges were dropped last week, but special prosecutors have said that the investigation remains active and ongoing and charges could be refiled against the actor.

Per the New York Times report, the films new armorer, Andrew Wert, said that the dummy rounds being used are made of rubber and wood and painted gold. Hutchins, 42, was killed by a real bullet that had made its way into the gun Baldwin was holding. Each time Wert who has worked on films like Dallas Buyers Club and The Duel brings a gun on set, he announces that it is a replica and will not fire. According to the Times, Wert has reengineered the guns so that they cannot fire and keeps them locked in a password-protected case in between scenes.

According to the Times, the ranch was assessed by a pair of safety supervisors a month before production started and union representatives are on-hand to observe scenes that are deemed high risk. The budget has been upped from $6.5 million to $8 million, and the schedule was extended from 22 to 24 days to allow for extra care, producer Ryan Smith told the Times.

Bianca Cline is taking over as cinematographer for the film, and Hutchins husband has joined as an executive producer. A documentary is in the works about Hutchins life and the process of finishing the film after her death. Before the film restarted production, Souza paid tribute to Hutchins in an address to the crew.

There have been days leading up to today when I honestly didnt know how I was going to get out of bed in the morning. And the reason I could was all of you, Souza said, per the Times. I know shed be anxious for us to get to work, so why dont we do that? We get to make a movie today. We might as well make it a good one.

The Rust shooting has sparked industry change, with acclaimed action director Guy Ritchie also banning real guns from all of his movie sets.

That whole thing has changed now, the whole game has changed. We havent used a real weapon since [the Rust shooting], Ritchie told Newsweek. So there were no real weapons. Its the first shoot that we had, which I have to tell you, its a tremendous relief for all of us. [Airsoft weapons] look as good as real weapons, they do all the functions as a real weapon. You get a gas discharge. It all seems as authentic as it can be, but its Airsoft though. No one can get into any trouble.