Halyna Hutchins’ Family Reaches Settlement With Alec Baldwin, ‘Rust’ Producers In Her Shooting Death

The family of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins who was shot and killed on the set of the film has agreed this week on a settlement to drop the charges against Alec Baldwin and the movie’s producers. The film production is said to have plans of resuming the project in January 2023.

According to AP News, Matthew Hutchins, widower of the late Halyna said in a statement on Wednesday that his and Baldwin’s legal teams have reached a settlement. The settlement is still subject to court approval for the “wrongful” death case against the producers of "Rust." He continued that the details of the settlement include dismissing all charges and the filming of "Rust" will resume with Halyna as a producer and will include all the original staff involved.

The agreement was a silver lining for Baldwin, whose career had taken a turn for the worse since the shooting incident on Oct. 21 last year. The actor, who is also one of the producers of the film, was pointing the gun at Halyna during rehearsal when the pistol discharged, killing the cinematographer and injuring their director, Joel Souza. Baldwin announced the settlement in an Instagram post where he wrote that everyone involved maintained the desire to do what was best for Halyna’s son, despite the difficult process.

"Rust" Movie Productions' legal representative Melina Spadone said that although the settlement is still subject to court approval, the agreement from both parties marks an important step forward. The film's director Souza is set to return to the film in his original role as he made a statement citing the staff who knew the cinematographer were lucky to have known such a person who he described to be a “talented, kind, creative, and source of incredible positive energy”.

He added that he wished the world had gotten to know Halyna under different circumstances, remarking on what could have been if her “amazing work” was showcased on the silver screen. Souza remarked that it was his pleasure, though “bittersweet” to announce that the movie Halyna worked on will continue in production and will be finished. However, despite the revival of the production, the set still suffers from unresolved safety sanctions that are yet to be given a definitive solution. The Occupational Health and Safety Review Commission has set an eight-day hearing on these disputed sanctions in April 2023.