Random Thoughts

WyldeMan wrote:Today I saw the great Anthony Hopkins name trending and I instantly feared the worst but as it turns out he's just celebrating 47 years of sobriety.

I re-watched Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal just yesterday and I found myself wishing Hopkins had spent more time in his career as Lecter. He's made so many movies but none of them have ever gotten a replay from me outside of the Hannibal movies.

Have I missed out on anything?

WyldeMan wrote:Today I saw the great Anthony Hopkins name trending and I instantly feared the worst but as it turns out he's just celebrating 47 years of sobriety.

I re-watched Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal just yesterday and I found myself wishing Hopkins had spent more time in his career as Lecter. He's made so many movies but none of them have ever gotten a replay from me outside of the Hannibal movies.

Have I missed out on anything?

Jeremy Renner critically injured in a snow plowing accident

Actor Jeremy Renner is in “critical but stable condition” after being injured in a weather-related snow plowing incident in Nevada, CNN affiliate KABC reported, citing a spokesperson for Renner.

Officers responded to a “traumatic injury” in the area of Mount Rose Highway in Reno, according to a news release from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, which has previously said the Academy Award-nominated actor lived in the community.

The sheriff’s office did not provide details on the extent of Renner’s injuries or what may have caused the accident.

Deputies coordinated with Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District and REMSA Health to arrange for medical transport of Renner via care flight to a local area hospital, the release stated.

Renner, who stars in the Paramount+ series “Mayor of Kingstown” and has been featured in several Marvel Cinematic Universe films – including in the role of Hawkeye – was the only person involved in the accident, officials said.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Major Accident Investigation Team is looking into the circumstances.

CNN has reached out to Renner’s publicist for comment.

Source: CNN

Marvel actor Jeremy Renner was in critical but stable condition after a snow plow he was using to dig out his family reportedly ran over one of his legs.

The Hawkeye and Hurt Locker star was airlifted to a local hospital after one of his neighbors, a doctor, put a tourniquet around his leg to stop the extensive bleeding, TMZ reported.

More than 24 hours after the incident in Washoe County, Nevada, where Renner has a home, his reps had not provided an update on his condition. Earlier, his publicist said he was with family and “receiving excellent care.”

Canon Brown, who works at a local snowboard shop and has previously done landscaping work at Renner's house, told The Daily Beast on Monday afternoon that the movie star was still recovering in the hospital. Brown didn't witness the accident, though he saw the helicopter evacuate Renner, he said.

The Washoe County Sheriff said in a statement that it responded to a “traumatic injury” in the Mt. Rose Highway area in Reno, Nevada and then coordinated with other agencies to arrange for the flight to the hospital.

“Mr. Renner was the only involved party in the incident,” the sheriff said, adding that the office is still investigating the incident.

Another one of Renner's neighbors told The Daily Beast that she and her family are keeping him “in our thoughts and prayers,” but she declined to comment further on the accident.

The 51-year-old has a home in the Lake Tahoe area, which was walloped by a monster New Year’s Eve storm, and he frequently posts on social media about his rugged life there area.

Five weeks ago, an Instagram post showed him doing donuts in the snow in a Jeep. More recently, he posted a picture of a vehicle buried under deep snow.

In December 2021, a video showed him driving a large Idaho Norland snow blower with the caption: “I have so much respect for Mother Earth, and Mother Nature … I expect to lose the fight but I’ll always give it my best shot.”

According to Brown, Renner is “super nice” but maintains a low profile in the area. “I'm not too sure that too many people know that he even lives in Reno. That comes [as] a shock to a lot of people that I bring that up to,” he said.

Marilyn Jankowski, who owns a home near Renner's, also described him as a private person. “He waves to people if he's driving in or out, and we wave back, which is what all the neighbors do,” she said. A few years ago, she added, Renner kept a firetruck on his property when the region was dealing with wildfires. “It made me feel a lot more secure knowing that there was a firetruck there ready to go,” she said.

The two-time Oscar nominee is currently starring in the Paramount+ drama Mayor of Kingstown and also enjoying buzz by the inclusion of a hot sauce branded with his name in Glass Onion.

WyldeMan wrote:Basically what I'm taking from this update is that had Renner not lived next door to a Doctor, he'd have bled out?

Sounds like he severed an artery and is incredibly lucky to still be alive....

There's an investigation because the Snowcat is supposed to have loads of safety features to prevent the vehicle from rolling but it still did.

joey con carne wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:Basically what I'm taking from this update is that had Renner not lived next door to a Doctor, he'd have bled out?

Sounds like he severed an artery and is incredibly lucky to still be alive....

There's an investigation because the Snowcat is supposed to have loads of safety features to prevent the vehicle from rolling but it still did.

Jeremy Renner was probably doing donuts in it and Snowcats are not built for donuts unless you're Vin Diesel.

WyldeMan wrote:He did post some snow pics from last month where he was doing donuts in his Jeep.

If he nearly died because he was doing donuts, they'd better blood test that boy for cocaine again...

Did Vin Diesel do Snowcat donuts in one of the XXX sequels?

joey con carne wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:He did post some snow pics from last month where he was doing donuts in his Jeep.

If he nearly died because he was doing donuts, they'd better blood test that boy for cocaine again...

Did Vin Diesel do Snowcat donuts in one of the XXX sequels?

I was thinking more on the lines of Fast and Furious. He hasn't done it yet but you know it's not out of the realms of possibility.

Ken Block, a famous racer, YouTube personality, and stunt driver, sadly died at the age of 55 while in Utah. Block had been in Wasatch County in Utah, operating a snowmobile, which upended and landed on top of him. The local Sheriff’s office indicated through a Facebook post that Block had been pronounced dead at the scene from injuries sustained by the vehicle.

Ken Block is the co-founder of the skate brand company DC and a clothing brand known as Hoonigan Industries. Hoonigan confirmed the tragic news of Block’s passing on its Instagram page, stating that, “Ken was a visionary, a pioneer, and an icon.”

This is truly tragic news, as Ken Block had been one of the biggest YouTube sensations because of his Gymkhana series that garnered millions of views from around the world. Block performed many daring racing feats, often getting other celebrities involved like fellow skateboarder, Rob Dyrdek. These feats would lead to an eight-part miniseries on Amazon Prime Video called The Gymkhana Files.

The Gymkhana Files followed Ken Block and the struggles that went along with creating one of the biggest social media campaigns that have ever been put together. Block would also garner the help of superstar Idris Elba in a short-lived series on Quibi called, Elba vs Block. Block has appeared in many racing formats from television shows like BBC’s Top Gear and many EA-made racing games.

Ken Block has been a racer of high caliber for nearly 20 years, as he broke into the scene back in 2005 with the Vermont SportsCar team. Based on his performance that year, he would win the honor of Rookie of the Year. Block also started the world-famous DC company back in 1998 with Danny Way and Clayton Belhm, which would be purchased by Quicksilver for $87 million in 2004.

Instead of featuring Ken Block, the most recent Gymkana video featured motorsports legend, Travis Pastrana, as he raced a Subaru through the streets of Florida. The most recent Ken Block YouTube video is the story of how he secured the championship title in the 2022 American Rally Association season. The nearly hour-long documentary was posted on his page just two weeks ago.

The motorsports world has already seen plenty of outpourings of dedication to Ken Block, who paved his own way through the racing world. We truly hope that his family can find some sort of solace in knowing that Block inspired countless people throughout the world and brought smiles to the faces of those who have watched his amazing videos.

Ken Block is survived by his wife Kelly, and their three children. We are not sure if there are previously recorded videos that Block made prior to the tragic accident that occurred in Utah, but we would imagine they would be released at some point in the future to honor the memory of one of the best motorsports legends in the world. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time, and we know that Block’s legacy will live on forever.

joey con carne wrote:Not familiar with Ken Block but that is an awful way to die. God damn.

A personal vehicle driven by a family member was stuck. Renner went to retrieve his Sno-cat (or his PistenBully) which weighed 14,330 lbs. Renner went to tow the vehicle on a private road, which allows him to operate such a vehicle. The actor got out of his PistenBully and it started to roll. Renner tried to get back in the PistonBully and it’s that point in time that police believe the actor was run over by the immense vehicle.

The film focuses on the dynamic between Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) and his big boss (Nicolas Cage) as the henchman tries to step out of Dracula's long shadow after decades of service. When he falls head over heels for the feisty, perpetually angry traffic cop Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina) in modern-day New Orleans, he finally decides to leave the vampire's employ, leading to hilarity and drama as they sort out the issues in their relationship.

Renfield will release in theaters on April 14.

UltimateMarvel wrote:Oh, this is going to be fun. Cage as Dracula and Nicholas? I'm in!

UltimateMarvel wrote:I've never seen or heard of this movie and after watching this trailer, I wish I hadn't.

Jeremy Renner was in really bad shape -- with serious injuries to his chest and torso -- according to the 911 call placed just minutes after he was crushed by a Snowcat.

We've obtained the 911 emergency log which includes notes from the call placed from the scene of Renner's accident over the weekend. The log states Renner could be heard moaning in the background of the call -- and that he was experiencing heavy bleeding from his head and other unknown injuries.

The log also details the accident itself -- stating Renner was "completely crushed" by the Snowcat -- and he was having "extreme difficulty" breathing.

Perhaps the scariest piece provided by the log is the fact it states the right side of Renner's chest collapsed and his upper torso was crushed. He was airlifted to a local hospital from the scene of the accident.

As we reported, local officials say Renner was helping a family member get their car out from heavy snow Sunday with the Snowcat. The actor stepped out of the vehicle to chat with the family member, and the vehicle started to roll. Officials say Renner attempted to get back into the driver's seat when he was crushed.

Jeremy shared a photo from his hospital bed Tuesday thanking everyone for their support and showing off some gnarly injuries to his face. He did not show the rest of his body.

EXCLUSIVE: James Wan has been labeled by fans for being responsible for killer doll movies, specifically his Conjuring franchise spinoff, Annabelle.

“It’s funny, I really hadn’t done that yet,” says the horror auteur. And that was his prime reason to create M3GAN with screenwriter Akela Cooper.

“In my previous doll movies — they don’t kill anyone. Annabelle never gets up and walks around. Everyone says I’m the killer doll guy. So I said, I’m going to make a killer doll movie for a brand new generation. Today’s kids didn’t grow up with Chucky like we did,” continues Wan who produced the PG-13 film and wrote the story with Cooper on script.

And so M3GAN was born. And born big. The Universal, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster title blew away its $17M-$20M projections this past weekend with a $30.2M start taking the second spot in a U.S./Canada marketplace still dominated four weekends later by James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way Water which did $45M and crossed the half billion mark. M3GAN reps a fantastic start to the box office year, especially with an original piece of IP, and the pic’s success is launching New Zealand filmmaker Gerard Johnstone’s talents out of a canon before Hollywood. Not to mention, it’s a great beginning for the ultimate team-up between Blumhouse and Wan’s Atomic Monster which are in final talks to merge. We heard on Friday, per sources, that a sequel is already in early development.

While the movie was made in Johnstone’s New Zealand in June 2021 (one of the few safe havens to shoot then during the pandemic), it’s our understanding that Universal always believed in the big screen version of M3GAN. Even though such Blumhouse titles like Firestarter, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends went theatrical day-and-date with the studio’s sister streamer Peacock, M3GAN always had an exclusive theatrical release date, we understand. At its opening gross level, the pic is on an exclusive 17-day theatrical window.

“I wanted to make a movie that really connects and is emotional,” Wan tells Deadline. He was drawn to Cooper for her old-school horror sensibility as well as her predilection for dark humor. The two went on to work on Malignant for Warner Bros. following M3GAN, on which she had a story and screenplay-by credits.

“M3GAN plays on a lot of different levels: It’s scary, creepy, touching and emotional at the same time,” Wan says, “We wanted to lean into something more technology-driven as opposed to supernatural.”

Who to direct M3GAN? Both Wan and Blumhouse EVP of Development and Production Ryan Turek were big fans of New Zealand comedy and horror director Gerard Johnstone having caught his 2014 film Housebound which premiered at SXSW. Johnstone, who cut his teeth directing TV comedy, made Housebound through the New Zealand Film Commission for $400K. When it comes to a filmmaker making their first film in New Zealand through the commission which finances, the most feasible ones to get greenlit are horror pics given their bankability.

Housebound follows a young woman who is forced to return to her childhood home after being placed under house arrest. It’s there that she suspects that something evil may be lurking. The pic eventually made its way to Netflix.

“It was weirdly a practical decision,” Johnstone tells us about making Housebound his directorial debut, he having initially conceived it as a funny idea that lent itself to horror. The first cut didn’t work well and needed to be scarier. So Johnstone schooled himself in the genre through a stack of Wan and Blumhouse DVDs. Peter Jackson caught wind of Housebound and helped catapult Johnstone’s career, the filmmaker was repped by the same agency as the Lord of the Rings filmmaker, CAA, and manager Ken Kamins.

“I was a big fan of Gerard’s movie Housebound and I kept telling everyone about it,” says Wan.

“It’s very similar to M3GAN in that it’s horror, but a strong shade of comedy. He has that sensibility and it’s what M3GAN needed: Someone who understood how to walk that fine line in the tone where it’s scary one moment, but not afraid to be dark in its humor the next,” continues the M3GAN producer and scribe.

For the role of M3GAN’s owner, Cady, Johnstone, Wan and Blumhouse settled on Violet McGraw, whose sister Madeleine McGraw starred in the latter’s summer hit, The Black Phone.

“She did this dramatic thing in the audition where she was crying the whole way through. She was so fragile and vulnerable, my heart was breaking. Then when I met her via Zoom, she was really fun. She was an unbelievable machine and was completely off book,” says Johnstone about working with McGraw.

When it came to actually finding M3GAN, the filmmakers had originally settled on a Canadian actress as they were planning to shoot in Montreal before the pandemic. But when production shifted to New Zealand, they landed on Amie Donald. What was key was that the actress needed to be a stunt performer and Donald over-delivered in that she was a national dance champion, a brown belt in Karate, and a contortionist.

“She was able to run on all fours, rise up from the ground without using her hands like a cobra — the stunt guys and movement coaches were gobsmacked,” says Johnstone.

But what took M3GAN to another level was Universal’s push under Chief Marketing Officer Michael Moses. They immediately spotted a meme that would catch on fire, particularly on TikTok, in Megan’s droopy sway dance, a hashtag sensation that spurred 1.3 billion views from #M3GAN, #M3GANMovie, and #M3GANDance. All of this traffic was organic sans a M3GAN dance challenge on social as Uni was keen that the dance would catch on. Uni assembled a troupe of M3GAN dancers who strutted their stuff at the global premiere last month before the screening of the trailer’s Taylor Swift song “It’s Nice to Have a Friend,” but that’s not all. They literally went on tour making stops at the Empire State Building, subways, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and even the front of The American Girl doll store, as well as last Sunday’s Rams game at halftime.

Uni cut a trailer capturing M3GAN‘s deadpan, sassy, posh tone which stoked the under-25 female audience, clocking over 250M views worldwide. Megan Thee Stallion gave the creepy doll a shoutout on social soon after the first trailer drop writing, “Not being biased, but I think they made this movie for me! I will be the THEE FIRST in line to M3GAN!!” 1980s monster doll Chucky began feuding with M3GAN on social media. The trailer generated multiple trending topics on Twitter, YouTube and GIPHY. 

M3GAN ranked on all of the key year-end trends like Spotify Wrapped and Lensa AI. Additionally, an AI “M3gan Bot” was launched across Messenger and Twitter giving fans the chance to talk with M3gan and play simple games. In return, M3GAN would send fans a photo of her holding a framed picture of her new BFF: them.  

Further hitting the Gen Z demo, Universal had M3GAN as the primary sponsor of Bad Bunny’s new music video where she greeted viewers of his blockbuster new video debut with a custom video. TV spots for the trailer ran during Christmas Day NBA games, with five spots in College Football Bowl games and during holiday specials. There was also a Mitu Snapchat Takeover, Snap Grenade, a YouTube Female Movie Lovers Awareness Accelerator and a Reddit Horror Category Takeover.

According to RelishMix, YouTube views were blazing from fan-posted M3GAN review spots and other mashup trailer reposts. Four studio videos fueled a huge viral rate of 86:1 for M3GAN. Ahead of the opening, RelishMix spotted all the heat on M3GAN with its 1.5 billion social media universe across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, annihilating previous horror SMU comps Scream (126.2M SMU/$30M opening) and Insidious: The Last Key at 114M SMU/$29.6M).

“We worked with Michael on 35 movies. When you see that team get excited about a movie, they pull out all the stops. When you feel that enthusiasm from marketing as a producer it gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling,” Blum tells Deadline.

In the wake of Blumhouse’s fingerprints with Purge and Paranormal Activity and Wan’s with Saw and Conjuring, M3GAN is another example of the power of horror films at the box office. They’re low risk, but when they hit, it’s like winning the lottery. We’ve bemoaned as moviegoing returns from the pandemic about the high risk with original IP theatrically, particularly those movies geared at women. However, M3GAN trampled on such statistical cynicism pulling in an audience that was 53% female and 44% under 25.

“Everyone has been saying that we’ve lost the under-25 crowd,” says Jason Blum, “M3GAN is a clear indication that we have not.”

“If you make the right movie, and make it the right way, the audience is there,” says the 3x Oscar-nominated producer, “The audience is starved for fun, entertaining movie. There’s not enough.”

Bob Odenkirk is feeling Lucky.

The Better Call Saul alum’s new series Lucky Hank will premiere Sunday, March 19 on AMC, the network announced at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. Along with the premiere date, AMC released a new teaser for the dramedy — which you can watch above — with Odenkirk’s college professor Hank staring into the camera as we hear him say, “I’ve always been a difficult man. I specialize in minor strife and insignificant irritation. That’s my lane.”

Lucky Hank (formerly titled Straight Man) is a “mid-life crisis tale” that takes place on a fictional college campus in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt. Odenkirk stars as William Henry “Hank” Devereaux Jr., the prickly chairman of the college’s English department. Aaron Zelman (Damages) and Paul Lieberstein (The Office) adapted the series from the Richard Russo novel Straight Man and serve as co-showrunners.

Mireille Enos (The Killing) co-stars as Hank’s wife Lily, the vice principal of the local high school. The cast also includes Oscar Nunez (The Office) as Dean Jacob Rose, Tom Bower (Ray Donovan) as Hank’s estranged father William Henry Devereaux Sr., Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) as the college’s president Dickie Pope and Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley) as Lily’s ex Tom Leska.

joey con carne wrote:M3GAN looks trippy. I saw a video of the girl dancing around in the costume behind the scenes. Creepy and funny at the same time.

"Amie Donald. What was key was that the actress needed to be a stunt performer and Donald over-delivered in that she was a national dance champion, a brown belt in Karate, and a contortionist."

UltimateMarvel wrote:I think M3GAN looks hilarious, I'm going to be watching it.

Wylde, where is your avatar from? He keeps looking at me, it's very creepy.

It's pretty wild and to this day, I've never met another person who's ever heard of it before. I watched it again a few months back after all these years and was surprised that its insanity is still pretty shocking to this day.

WyldeMan wrote:

joey con carne wrote:

WyldeMan wrote:

I love this GIF. Makes the movie seem more like a comedy. Cracking me up. LOL "Happy Friday the 13th"

Nearly every kill in the franchise feels like it was designed for laughter instead over horror.

Paramount’s adaptation of Tom Clancy novel Rainbow Six has found its director.

Chad Stahelski, the director of the John Wick movies, has been tapped to direct the feature project that is serving as a Michael B. Jordan action vehicle and follow up to the actor and studio’s 2021 action thriller, Without Remorse.

Jordan is starring in Rainbow and is producing with Elizabeth Raposo via the duo’s Outlier Society banner. Also producing are Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans via Weed Road Pictures as well as Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec through The Saw Mill.

Jordan will once again be playing Navy SEAL-turned CIA operative John Clark, one of Clancy’s more popular characters who appeared in the late author’s Jack Ryan spy books. The character also headlined two novels, Without Remorse and Rainbow Six, with the latter spawning a line of video games.

Remorse served as a Clark origin story of sorts and was made during the pandemic. With theatrical releasing in flux, Paramount offloaded the movie to Amazon where it debuted April 30, 2021. Paramount intends to release Rainbow theatrically, sources say, although final decisions won’t be made until later in the moviemaking process.

No plot details have been revealed.

Stahelski will executive produce under his 87Eleven Entertainment alongside cohorts Jason Spitz and Alex Young.

Stuntman-turned-filmmaker Stahelski made a bone-crunching directing debut with John Wick in 2014, and then helmed all the subsequent installments. He has several projects in development, including a remake of Highlander that will star Henry Cavill. Last year he produced vampire action flick Day Shift that starred Jamie Foxx and that Netflix released in August.

Actor Julian Sands, known for roles in the films A Room With a View and Warlock, was reported missing Friday after going hiking in California’s San Gabriel Mountains earlier that day, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Nate Campos told The Hollywood Reporter.

Sands, a 65-year-old resident of North Hollywood, was reported missing around 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Baldy Bowl area of Mount Baldy, according to authorities. A search was begun, but ground crews were taken off the mountain Saturday evening amid avalanche risks and poor trail conditions due to snow and ice.

Search continued via helicopters and drones as weather permitted, and ground crews will resume their work when safe to do so. The sheriff’s department, which is working with Forest Service to find Sands, urges individuals to stay out of the area due to treacherous hiking conditions.

In a press release issued Wednesday, the sheriff’s department noted that conditions have led to 14 rescue conditions in the past four weeks, and that two hikers have died in that span.

THR has reached out to Sands’ team for further comment.

Sands began his career with supporting performances in films including the 1984 titles Oxford Blues and The Killing Fields. He then landed the lead role opposite Helena Bonham Carter in director James Ivory’s A Room With a View (1985), which earned eight Oscar nominations, including best picture, and three wins.

Other film credits include horror flick Warlock (1989) and its sequel, Arachnophobia (1990), Naked Lunch (1991), Boxing Helena (1993), Leaving Las Vegas (1995) and David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

His television work includes recurring roles on Stargate SG-1, 24, Ghost Whisperer, Dexter, Banshee and What/If.

Sands married writer Evgenia Citkowitz in 1990, and the couple share two children. He has a third child from a previous relationship.

Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will face criminal charges for the October 21, 2021 fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the Santa Fe District Attorney said this morning.

Close to 16 months after Baldwin took the life of Hutchins and wounded the movie’s director Joel Souza with a loaded gun on the set of indie western Rust, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies today has finally unveiled her decision as to who should be charged and not charged in the tragic incident.

“After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of the state of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin and other members of the Rust film crew,” Carmack-Altwies said Thursday. “On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice.”

In charges set to be formally filed by the end of the month, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death.

Heading towards a hearing before a state judge and then a jury trial, the first charge is a fourth-degree felony with sentencing of up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine. The second charge, which is formally an involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act charge, is also a fourth-degree felony punishable by up to 18 months in jail and up to a $5000 fine. However, the second charge additionally carries a firearm enhancement. That gives the offense a punishing mandatory five years behind bars if Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed are found guilty.

Long a key figure in the events surrounding Hutchins’ death, Rust assistant director David Halls reached a plea agreement with prosecutors for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. The industry vet faces a suspended sentence and six months of probation, the D.A.’s office said today. While Baldwin has in the past vowed to fight any charges, Halls’ plea deal and the cooperation he likely has had with prosecutors could become a major factor for the actor going forward.

“If any one of these three people—Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls—had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” stated Andrea Reeb, the special prosecutor assigned to the case. “The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ film set. In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously,” Reeb added.

Over the months, while the Santa Fe Sheriff’s office put the final touches on its wide ranging investigation of the late 2021 shooting at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, the D.A. has been partially planting the seeds for today’s announcement.

An August 30 letter to the New Mexico Board of Finance from Carmack-Altwies revealed the D.A’s possible intentions to prosecute as many as four individuals with criminal and homicide charges related to Rust including “one of the possible defendants” being “well known movie actor Alec Baldwin.” In her ask, Carmack-Altwies was requesting $635,000 for the matter, but was only granted $317,750 by the state.

Much has happened around the Rust tragedy on-screen and in the courts, as many have waited on Carmack-Altwies’ decision.

In an ABC news interview with George Stephanopoulos in December 2021, Baldwin insisted he never actually pulled the trigger of the gun that took Hutchins’ life during a quick-draw rehearsal move in a church location on the set of Rust. Just minutes before the shots that killed Hutchins and wounded Souza, Baldwin was told by Assistant Director Dave Halls that the 1880s Colt prop weapon was a “cold gun, as many witnesses including Hall have asserted. Seemingly indifferent to his own tone, Baldwin also told the Good Morning America co-host in the now infamous sit-down, that he had been told by people who are in the know, in terms of even inside the state, that it’s highly unlikely that I would be charged with anything criminally.”

Just a couple of weeks prior to the anniversary of the tragedy, Baldwin and Rust producers reached a settlement with the Hutchins Estate on October 5, 2022, ending the wrongful death suit brought forth in mid-February against the production and the actor, who also served as a producer on the $7 million budgeted film.

Part of the agreement entailed the DP’s husband Matthew Hutchins becoming an executive producer on the resurrected Rust movie, which was scheduled to start reshooting this month. While the production has been scouting locations in California, such as Simi Valley, Deadline heard, no official word has been given about the Western fully resuming production and where it would actually film. There is also no word if Rust has been able to get insured, a necessary requirement to make a movie.

At the time the deal with the Hutchins estate was made public, the Santa Fe-based District Attorney made sure that there was no perception this was all over. “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-Altwies’ ongoing investigation or her ultimate decision whether to file criminal charges in the case,” her office said in a quickly issued statement.

Staying in the public eye over the last year, Baldwin was set to star in the spy movie Chief of Station, shooting in Budapest, however, the actor had to vacate the role over scheduling issues back on October 31.

As civil lawsuits and that wrongful death action from Hutchins’ family hit court dockets in New Mexico and California over the last year, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in late 2022 finally made public the FBI assisted police report which detailed the calamities that ensued before the shooting of Hutchins on October. 21, 2021.

The raw 551-page report cast suspicion on Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, among others on what appeared to be an openly problematic set. Dolly grip Ross Addiego, for instance, claimed to police that the armorer and her crew had issues that involved “negligent discharges”. The armorer was preparing one of six guns and one of the revolvers went off toward her foot. A few minutes later at the cabin set, a discharged gun went off that wasn’t announced, which would have been assistant director Dave Halls’ responsibility to announce, per Addiego.

Besides the live round in the gun in Baldwin’s hand, the FBI found five more rounds of live ammo on the Rust set, the report detailed. Additionally, the report cast doubt on Baldwin’s assertion that he never pulled the trigger. “With the hammer at full cock, the revolver could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional,” the document stated.

The report also went into detail on other instances of guns going off on Rust.

Reese Price, a key grip, told authorities that “accidental discharge” occurred twice during the course of one day on set. “One of the accidental discharges occurred by ‘armorer girl’ who was messing with a gun,” Price told authorities. Souza, in his interview with the cops, reported there wasn’t any negligence on the set, and didn’t believe the armorer intermingled live rounds with blanks. 

While staying in the public eye over the last year, multi-Emmy winner Baldwin hasn’t been in front of the camera much professionally since the Rust shooting. Baldwin was set to star in the spy movie Chief of Station, shooting in Budapest, however, the actor had to vacate the role over scheduling issues back on October 31.

In that vein, in mid-November last year, Baldwin took on the role of plaintiff and hit Rust armorer Gutierrez Reed, first assistant director Halls, property master Sarah Zachry, and weapons and rounds supplier Seth Kenney and his company with a negligence lawsuit.

Filed in LA Superior Court, the action claimed that “Baldwin has also lost numerous job opportunities and associated income” because of what happened on Rust. “For example, he’s been fired from multiple jobs expressly because of the incident on Rust and has been passed over for other opportunities, which is a direct result of the negligence of Cross-Defendants Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, Kenney, PDQ, and Zachry,” stated the cross-complaint paperwork prepared by Quinn Emanuel attorney Luke Nikas for Baldwin.

Along with a much challenged but still enduring suit from Rust‘s script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, that matter remains before the California courts.