The world is still in a state of shock after a prop firearm discharged by Alec Baldwin on the set of Western Rust ended up causing the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, with director Joel Souza since having been released from hospital after he too was injured.
It’s set to cause an industry-wide inquiry into the use of blank cartridges on set, which are still filled with real gunpowder, with a live round being cited as the cause of the Rust tragedy. It’s drawn parallels with the infamous accidental killing of Brandon Lee on the set of The Crow in 1993, where a misfiring gun robbed Hollywood of another fast-rising talent.
The family of the late actor have now put out a statement regarding the Rust incident on his official Twitter fan page, which you can see below.
To the surprise of nobody, Rust has been shut down indefinitely, and it remains to be seen if shooting will ever pick up again. Maybe the cast and crew will want to finish the project in honor of Hutchins, who was pegged as a future star behind the camera, or perhaps it’ll be too raw for anyone to even contemplate getting back to work after such an awful tragedy.