Controversial Alec Baldwin Movie Gets Digital Streaming Date

Rust — the Alec Baldwin Western that turned tragic when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidentally shot to death during on the set of the film — has received a theatrical and digital release date.

Rust is directed by Joel Souza and Baldwin is one of the film’s producers. The production of Rust was brought to a complete standstill on Oct. 21, 2021, when a prop gun the actor was holding went off. A live round left in the gun struck Hutchins, who died from her wounds at a local hospital. Souza was also hit but survived his injuries.

Baldwin — who maintained that he did not pull the trigger of the weapon despite forensic findings to the contrary (via ABC) — was indicted two times in the case, with the second charge of involuntary manslaughter coming on Jan. 19, 2024. The first manslaughter charge was dropped in April 2023 since new evidence surfaced and more time was needed for an investigation.

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In July of 2024, the case against Baldwin was dismissed by a New Mexico judge, citing that the state withheld evidence about the shooting. Meanwhile, Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter charges in April of 2024 and sentenced to 18 months in prison the following month.

Now, about three and a half years after the on-set tragedy, Rust will finally be released. According to People, Rust will be released in theaters on May 2 and will be available on digital streaming via premium video on demand the same day.

The film premiered at the Camerimage Film Festival in Poland in November of 2024.

Although pre-order availability has not been listed anywhere, new PVOD titles generally appear on a variety of platforms including AppleTV, Fandango at Home and Prime Video. Purchase and rental pricing has not yet been announced.

The Trailer For Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ Makes Debut Amid Announcement Of Theatrical and PVOD Release

Per IMDb, the logline for Rust reads, “A boy left to fend for himself and his younger brother following their parents’ deaths in 1880s Kansas goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather after he is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.”

Alec Baldwin stars in the film as the title character, Harland Rust. The film also stars Travis Fimmel, Jake Busey, Frances Fisher and Patrick Scott McDermott.

A documentary about the tragedy — Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna — began streaming on Hulu on March 11.

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Per Hulu, the summary of Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna partially reads, “On October 21, 2021, on the set of the movie Rust, a prop gun held by actor Alec Baldwin fired a live bullet, wounding the film’s director and killing its cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. Within hours, the catastrophic accident was enveloped by a frenzy of media attention. For months, then years, as lawsuits flew and criminal trials unfolded, the tabloid spectacle around the case overshadowed a private, personal tragedy.

“In Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna, Halyna’s friend, director Rachel Mason, goes beyond the public narrative to reveal the untold human story of that terrible day and all that followed — from the vantage point of the people at the center of the tragedy. The film weaves together the accounts of those who were on the set of Rust that day and of those, like Mason, who not only lost a cherished friend and colleague but who are still navigating the trauma of the aftermath.”

The summary also noted that the filmmakers worked with public court records, and behind-the-scenes material from the film and had “unprecedented access to key individuals and materials, including Halyna’s personal archives.”

“The film examines the official investigations into the safety protocols on set and explores the private moral reckoning of all involved,” the summary continued. “It probes for answers to the questions those closest to Halyna all carry. How could this have happened? And how do we possibly make sense of it?

“Rigorously reported, emotionally raw, and deeply personal, the film seeks to redeem the core of the story that the media exploited — that of a talented cinematographer whose life story was minimized, yet in death gave her colleagues an unexpected opportunity to heal from unimaginable loss by completing the film that mattered deeply to her.”

Rust, starring Alec Baldwin, will be released in theaters and on PVOD on May 2.

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