The late cinematographer's husband, Matthew Hutchins, will also serve as a producer.
When Alec Baldwin's Western film, Rust, resumes filming in January 2023 it'll include "all the original principal players on board" and a new executive producer -- Halyna Hutchins' widow, Matthew Hutchins.
With Baldwin announcing on Wednesday that he's reached a settlement with the Hutchins estate in the fatal Rust shooting -- which killed Halyna and injured director Joel Souza in October 2021 -- also comes news that the film, marred by alleged safety failures and the subsequent death of the film's cinematographer, will resume production in just a few months.
In a statement from Matthew, his attorney Brian Panish of Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP told ET: "We have reached a settlement, subject to court approval, for our wrongful death case against the producers of Rust including Alec Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions, LLC."
The statement continued, "As part of that settlement, our case will be dismissed. The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board, in January 2023. I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin). All of us believe Halyna's death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna's final work."
Baldwin's lawyer, Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel, added in a statement to ET: "Throughout this difficult process, everyone has maintained the specific desire to do what is best for Halyna’s son. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the resolution of this tragic and painful situation."
Pending the judge signing off on the settlement, the settlement will toss the wrongful death lawsuit Hutchins' estate brought against Baldwin and the Rust production back in February. At the time, the estate's attorney, Panish, said Baldwin and other named defendants are "responsible for the safety on the set and whose reckless behavior in cost cutting led to the senseless and tragic death of Halyna Hutchins.”
While Baldwin was holding the gun at the time of the shooting, he's consistently maintained that he never pulled the trigger.
Matthew joining the film as an executive producer is an unexpected turn of events, considering he expressed anger toward Baldwin back in February over the actor's Good Morning America interview in December. During his interview on NBC Nightly News, Matthew was asked if he saw the GMA interview. Matthew said he did, and it made him angry.
"Yeah. But watching him I just felt so angry," he said at the time. "I was just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly, in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her."
Reflecting on Baldwin's tearful interview, Matthew said the actor presented the story in a way in which it "almost sounds like he was the victim."
Months after Halyna's death, Rust Movie Productions LLC was also fined over $136,000 by New Mexico's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau. In a scathing report, safety officials said the production company showed "plain indifference to the recognized hazards associated with the use of firearms on set that resulted in a fatality, severe injury, and unsafe working conditions."
"Our investigation found that this tragic incident never would have happened if Rust Movie Productions, LLC had followed national film industry standards for firearm safety," Environment Cabinet Secretary James Kenney said in a statement announcing the fine. "This is a complete failure of the employer to follow recognized national protocols that keep employees safe."
The bureau said the "Willful-Serious" citation and $136,793 fine is the maximum permitted under New Mexico law.
Baldwin's settlement comes nearly two months after the FBI concluded in a forensic report that the gun used to kill Hutchins couldn't have been fired without someone first pulling the trigger. Before the release of that FBI report, Baldwin appeared on The Chris Cuomo Project and explained how the gun could have gone off without him pulling the trigger.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, the lead agency in the homicide investigation, has not yet charged anyone amid its ongoing investigation. A spokesperson for the Office of the First Judicial District Attorney for the state of New Mexico released a statement saying the settlement will have no impact on its investigation.
"The proposed settlement announced today in Matthew Hutchins’ wrongful death case against Rust movie producers, including Alec Baldwin, in the death of Halyna Hutchins will have no impact on District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweis’ ongoing investigation or her ultimate decision whether to file criminal charges in the case," the statement read. "While civil suits are settled privately and often involve financial awards, criminal cases deal only in facts. If the facts and evidence warrant criminal charges under New Mexico law then charges will be brought. No one is above the law."
RELATED CONTENT:
