'Rust' to be completed with Alec Baldwin as lead star, attorney says

The shooting of Joel Souza directorial 'Rust' will continue with Alec Baldwin in the lead role, an attorneyfor the production shared via a statement on Monday. The statement of the lawyer comes days after prosecutors stated that they will charge the actor in the fatal shooting of the movie's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

According to the latest update, Alecwill continue to play grandfather Harland Rust in the film while Joel will return as its director following his wounding in the fatal October 2021 shooting, revealed Melina Spadone, an attorney for 'Rust' movie productions.

The late cinematographerHutchins' husband Matt Hutchins will remainexecutive producer of the project, she added. "The film is still on track to be completed," Spadone sharedin the statement.

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This Thursday, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwiessaid that she plans to charge both Baldwin and the film's armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the cinematographer's death.

Baldwin in October reached a settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Hutchins family under which Hutchins would take a production role in 'Rust' and filming would resume this month.

Baldwin has denied responsibility for the shooting, saying live ammunition should never have been allowed on set and weapons handlers were responsible for firearm safety.

An investigation by Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office has yet to reveal how live rounds got inside the production.

Legal analysts said prosecutors face an uphill battle convicting Baldwin of criminal charges without proof he knew live ammunition was present and took no precautions.

"There doesn't seem to be a lot of evidence that people were acting in a way that they were actually aware of what the danger was, and acting with disregard for the danger," said Kate Mangels, an attorney with entertainment law firm Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump Holley.

(With inputs from agencies)

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