Alec Baldwin’s brother Billy has expressed his support for the upcoming release of the controversial film Rust.
The film will premiere at the Camerimage International Art of Cinematography Film Festival in Poland in November, some three years after the fatal shooting that claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Billy, 61, shared his support for the film Thursday night at the premiere of his project Americans With No Address in Los Angeles.
“I think it’s great, because as I understand it, it was the family’s wish that they could go because they wanted the public to see their latest work,” said the actor. TMZ.
“They wanted to honor her by finishing her work and showing it off,” he said.
Billy Baldwin, 61, defended the decision for his brother Alec’s film Rust to premiere at an international film festival in Poland next month. “My understanding is that it was the family’s wishes…they wanted the public to see their latest work,” the actor told TMZ (pictured Oct. 3 in Los Angeles).
Production on the Western was halted in October 2021 when a prop gun held by Baldwin, 66, went off, killing Hutchins, who was just 42 years old.
Director Joel Souza was also injured in the incident and the film eventually wrapped filming in May 2023.
According DeadlineUkrainian-born Halyna is said to have campaigned early in production to screen the film at Camerimage, which honors international cinematographers.
Billy Baldwin will not be able to attend the premiere of Rust.
He’ll be in Siena, Italy, promoting a ‘great independent arthouse film’ co-starring Judd Nelson and Michael Madsen.
It is currently unclear whether Alec, 66, will attend.
His manslaughter trial was dismissed in August after a judge ruled that evidence had been mishandled.
He has asked the court to dismiss the prosecution’s request to reconsider the dismissal.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed when a live-action gun was fired on set (pictured in Park City in January 2018)
Alec Baldwin, 66, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, but his case was dismissed in August when the judge ruled that evidence had been mishandled. It is unclear whether he will attend the premiere in Poland next month.
Gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 27, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison for her mishandling of the gun (pictured in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in March).
The actor’s lawyers argue that prosecutors have not presented any new evidence in the case.
Gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 27, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison for mishandling the gun, which was not supposed to be loaded with live ammunition.
Earlier this month, a judge upheld a manslaughter conviction against Gutierrez-Reed in the shooting death of Hutchins.
Gutierrez-Reed asked a New Mexico court to throw out her conviction or hold a new trial, claiming prosecutors failed to share evidence that could have cleared her of the shooting on the set of Rust.
However, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer explained in her written order that Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys did not establish that there was a reasonable possibility that the outcome of the trial would have been different if the evidence had been available to her.
The judge also denied a request by Gutierrez-Reed to be released, saying it was moot because her request for a new trial was denied.
Gutiérrez-Reed has an appeal of the conviction pending in a higher court. Jurors acquitted her of accusations that she tampered with evidence in the ‘Rust’ investigation.
Prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unintentionally bringing live ammunition to the set of ‘Rust’ and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.
