Production was halted on October 21, 2021 after a gun that was handed to Alec Baldwin, and was discharged while in his hand, caused the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and a serious injury to director Joel Souza. Before that incident, six camera department union workers had walked off the set due to unsatisfactory housing, after which they were replaced by non-union workers. Several days prior, another firearm incident occurred and a firearm safety complaint had been made.
With a settlement agreed, Matthew Hutchins will now take on the role of executive producer on the film. "The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board in January 2023", he confirmed. However, Alec Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter on January 19th, putting his further involvement with the project into question. On April, 20th, the film resumed production after charges against him were dropped.
Jensen Ackles and Brady Noon initially shot scenes for the film, but both have dropped out when filming resumed due to scheduling conflicts that was caused by the shooting of Halyna Hutchins. They have been replaced by Josh Hopkins and Patrick Scott McDermott.
This film was a passion project for both director Joel Souza and actor Alec Baldwin, who worked on the script together. The film was meant to be a tribute to old spaghetti westerns.
In March 2024, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of Halyna Hutchins.