The first official trailer has been released for Rust, the movie starring Alec Baldwin that had a tragic moment during production when a prop gun used by the actor accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
Rust is set to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025, and you can check out the trailer right here. As for the official synopsis, it is as follows;
“In 1880s Kansas, recently orphaned Lucas McCalister (Patrick Scott McDermott) accidentally kills a rancher and is sentenced to hang,” the synopsis reads. “In a twist of fate, his estranged grandfather, the notorious outlaw Harland Rust (Academy Award nominee Alec Baldwin), breaks him out of jail and takes him on the run toward Mexico.
“As they flee across the unforgiving wilderness, the fugitive pair must outrun the determined U.S. Marshal Wood Helm (Josh Hopkins) and a ruthless bounty hunter named ‘Preacher’ (Travis Fimmel).”
As previously mentioned, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentially killed on set of Rust on October 22, 2021, by a prop gun that was being used by Alec Baldwin. According to Souza, Baldwin was pointing his prop weapon at the camera where Hutchins and Souza were standing and he was showing how he was going to pull his gun from the holster. That was when the weapon discharged.
The weapon in question was supposed to be a “cold gun” that had no live rounds, but that was obviously not the case. In the years that followed, charges were dropped against Baldwin in April 2023 and Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who prepared the gun for the scene, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
First assistant director David Halls, whose job was to double check that the gun was empty, plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon and was then sentenced to six months of probation.
As reported by Variety, Rust first premiered at Poland’s Camerimage Festival in November 2024 and the film honors Hutchins during the credits. Baldwin was not invited to the event, but Souza was in attendance and shared a few words.
“We are here in a place that she loved so much, probably second only to being on set,” Souza said of Hutchins. “I want to thank you all for coming and for taking a few hours out of your day to come celebrate my friend and to celebrate her art and her talent. She really was something.”
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.
