Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for AMC Networks
Explore movies, games, superheroes and more with CNET Culture. Delivered Tuesdays and Fridays.
“We have halted production on the film for an undetermined period of time and are fully cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Department’s investigation. We will be providing counseling services to everyone connected to the film as we work to process this awful event.”
Hutchins, 42, had worked on many short films, as well as 2020 mystery thriller Archenemy starring Joe Manganiello. In 2019, American Cinematographer magazine named her one of their rising stars.
A cinematographer was killed and director injured Thursday when a prop gun discharged on the set of Alec Baldwin’s western movie Rust while filming in New Mexico.
Set in 1880s Kansas, Rust follows a 13-year-old boy who goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather Harland Rust, played by Baldwin, after he’s sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher. Baldwin is a co-producer on the western, which Souza wrote and directs. It also stars Jensen Ackles, Frances Fisher, Brady Noon and Travis Fimmel.
Filmmaker Halyna Hutchins attends the 2018 Sundance Film Festival Official Kickoff Party Hosted By SundanceTV at Sundance TV HQ on January 19, 2018 in Park City, Utah.
“The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event. This is a terrible loss, and we mourn the passing of a member of our Guild’s family.”
“The Santa Fe County sheriff’s office confirms that two individuals were shot during filming of a scene on the set of the movie western ‘Rust.’ According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged. Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.”
“We received the devastating news this evening, that one of our members, Halyna Hutchins, the director of photography on a production called ‘Rust’ in New Mexico died from injuries sustained on the set,” John Lindley, the president of the International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600, and Rebecca Rhine, the executive director, said in a statement (via Variety).
The sheriff’s office confirmed that two people were shot and that it’s investigating the incident.
“The entire cast and crew has been absolutely devastated by today’s tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Halyna’s family and loved ones,” Rust Movie Productions, the production company behind the independent feature, said in a statement Thursday night.
No arrests or charges have been filed in relation with the incident, according to the office. The incident remains under an “open and active” investigation.
Hutchins died after being transported by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. Souza was injured and taken by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, where he’s undergoing treatment.
