Another Hollywood project is changing the way it depicts firearms after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot by actor Alec Baldwin while filming a movie in New Mexico on Thursday. Eric Kripke, the showrunner on Amazon’s hit superhero drama The Boys, said his show will only use CGI muzzle flashes from now on instead of “live” ammunition.ย The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley also told his crew on Friday the cop drama will no longer use “live” weapons at all.
“Someone hurt or killed on my set is my worst nightmare. Sending love to Halyna Hutchins’ family, [Rust actor Jensen Ackles], cast & crew of Rust,” Kripke tweeted. “I’m so sorry. In her memory, a simple, easy pledge: no more guns with blanks on any of my sets ever. We’ll use VFX muzzle flashes. Who’s with me?”
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Stephan Fleet, who works on The Boys‘ VFX team, voiced support for the move. “I’m with you! And I’ll be doing those muzzle flashes,” Fleet tweeted. “I also don’t understand why a totally fake handgun with a spring-loaded kick, a slide, shell discharge, vapor smoke, and an LED flashlight hasn’t been invented for filming yet. There’s stuff kinda like this, but not this exactly… should be industry standard.”
Kripke’s tweets came after The Hollywood Reporter obtained a memo from Hawley to his staff at The Rookie, which stars Nathan Fillion as a police officer. The show was already using mostly CGI to add muzzle flashes in post-production, but they did use “live” weapons in some big action scenes. “As of today, it is now policy on The Rookie that all gunfire onset will be with AirSoft guns with CG muzzle flashes added in post,” Hawley wrote. “There will be no more ‘live’ weapons on the show. The safety of our cast and crew is too important. Any risk is too much risk.”
On Thursday afternoon, Baldwin fired a prop gun while working on the Western Rust at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico, fatally shooting Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. According to an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Santa Fe court on Friday, assistant director David Halls gave Baldwin the weapon and told him it was safe to use before the actor-producer shot it. Halls did not know the gun had live rounds, according to the affidavit filed by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. Before the shooting, some crew members quit the production over safety concerns, the Los Angeles Times reported. Members of the crew reportedly walked off the set just hours before the shooting and were replaced by non-union workers.
No charges have been filed in the incident and the investigation is ongoing. “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother, and deeply admired colleague of ours,” Baldwin wrote in a statement on Friday. “I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”ย
