Alec Baldwin’s “Rust” Producing Partner Says They Still Want To Complete The Movie
You’ve seen the interview. You’ve seen the computer-generated reenactments. You’ve seen the police body cam footage. Now, from the crack team that brought you Impromptu Roadside Press Conference co-starring Hilaria Baldwin and Oof That Hurts featuring a $136,000 fine from the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau for safety violations, Alec Baldwin and his producing partner Anjul Nigam are excited to announce — Rust: The Movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Anjul says that as soon as the New Mexico Sheriff’s department wraps up their investigation into the on-set shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, they’re “confident we’ll be able to complete the movie.” Yes, Anjul, speaking for himself and Alec, seems to think Rust will premiere in a theater near you instead of inside a New Mexico courtroom to an audience of 12 of their peers. Alec and Anjul, who are both named defendants in multiple lawsuits stemming from the October 21 death of Halyna and the injury of director Joel Souza, are launching a new production company together. While discussing their first project under their new banner, Persona Entertainment, Anjul confidently stated that they plan to finish the movie. Then immediately took it back. THR reports:
“Rust is obviously a horrific tragedy,” Nigam says. “The investigation will hopefully be resolved soon and will unveil what happened. Obviously, there will be people out there who will have negative perspectives, but we’re confident about continuing to make quality movies.”
Nigam says he believes that after the Santa Fe investigation concludes, producers will finish filming Rust. “We’re confident we’ll be able to complete the movie,” he says. [After this story’s publication, Nigam reached out to say, “My statement that I was confident the film could be completed was just my optimism, and not an actual plan. Many of those who were involved hope to honor Halyna by completing her last work, but at this point it is just hope.”]
Ah, Hollywood! Where confidence and incompetence go together like, well, like Alec and Anjul. People reports that court documents submitted by Alec after Halyna’s widow Matt Hutchins filed his wrongful death lawsuit against him show that Alec was eager to continue filming Rust just weeks after he shot her.
Baldwin wanted the cast and crew on the Western movie to complete filming after the fatal on-set incident as a way to honor late cinematographer Hutchins, a March court filing revealed.
Baldwin’s legal team said in an arbitration filing against the film’s other producers, obtained by The New York Times, that the actor tried to encourage the Rust cast and crew to complete the movie during the weeks following Hutchins’ death.
He also made a plan to support her husband Matthew Hutchins and their son, 9, through the movie profits and an insurance payout, the news outlet reported.
Just so we’re clear, Alec wanted to “honor” Halyna by encouraging her traumatized crew, who just witnessed him kill her, to finish the movie so it can earn “profits,” which he could then use to pay off her grieving husband and child along with an “insurance payout,” even though it’s been reported that production cheaped out and didn’t even carry a standard “completion bond,“ an “often-expensive package that serves as a type of umbrella policy should anything horrific happen and the production can’t be completed.” Say what you will about their competence and professionalism, but nobody can say Alec and Anjul aren’t 100% fully committed to seeing a project through till the bitter end. Anjul still has this up on his Instagram page!
As for their new movie, it’s called False Awakening and, naturally, Alec will star. THR reports:
The Rust producers Alec Baldwin and Anjul Nigam are bringing a film to the Cannes market in an effort to launch a new production banner, Persona Entertainment, seven months after Baldwin accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of their low-budget Western.
Baldwin will also star in False Awakening, which Nigam likens to movies like The Sixth Sense and Hereditary, as a psychologist who helps the main character navigate sleepwalking episodes that begin to interfere with his life. “Alec loved the idea of the connection to The Exorcist,” Nigam says.
Well, good news for Alec on that front at least. Alec and Anjul are a production team made in development hell. And, possibly, the other one too.
Pic: Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office