The film industry was rocked back in 2021 when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed when a live round was accidentally shot from a revolver by Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust. The incident launched a full-scale investigation into how this could have happened, and it would seem to serve as a warning for the handling of firearms on set, a warning which director Guy Ritchie took very seriously.
Film sets are not always the safest place to be; there is always heavy equipment lying around, wires running everywhere just waiting to trip people up, and that is on any set. Action films then, and any film containing weaponry and stunts, come with an added level of danger. Of course, the industry has ways to minimize risk on set, with health and safety coordinators present at all times, trained stunt people to take on the riskier stunts, and specialists to look after and manage the weapons.
Even with all these in place, accidents still happen, and there have been fatal accidents on film sets prior to Rust. The issue with this most recent tragedy is that it appears it happened due to negligence on a set that was already considered unsafe, with many citing the production as having poor gun safety. Since then, directors have sat up and taken note, with Ritchie going as far as now banning real guns from his set.
The British action director has directed many high-paced gangster thrillers, as well as the Sherlock Holmes films, almost all of which utilize guns. However, when shooting his most recent film, The Covenant starring Jake Gyllenhaal, the director was very clear about what he would and would not allow on his set. In the wake of the Rust incident, Ritchie banned guns from the set and filmed with Airsoft pellet weapons instead.
He discussed the issue in an interview with Newsweek, saying,
“That whole thing has changed now, the whole game has changed. We haven’t used a real weapon since then. So there were no real weapons. It’s the first shoot that we had, which I have to tell you, it’s a tremendous relief for all of us. They’re (Airsoft weapons) as good as, they 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 as Jake said, it’s Airsoft though. No one can get into any trouble.”
It must be a relief to a director whose films often include numerous shootouts that with the use of these Airsoft weapons cast and crew are much, much safer. He added that he never really liked having real weapons on set in the past saying,
“I’ve never liked real firearms. I had no idea why we carried on in the industry with real firearms. It was just one of those things that everyone did, and it’s a tremendous relief, as I’m sure it is for Jake, as much as it is for me, that you don’t have that sword hanging over us any longer.”
The Covenant is a film set in war-torn Afghanistan with plenty of guns being used throughout the film, so it must certainly feel a lot safer for all involved that this shoot didn’t have any lethal firearms on set. A year and a half on from the Rust tragedy, Alec Baldwin has just had the manslaughter charges against him dropped.