Production was halted on October 21, 2021 after Alec Baldwin, while filming, shot and killed the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, as well injuring the 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 had occurred and a firearm safety complaint had been made.
In March 2024, property master armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
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.
Filming took place in the Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch in New Mexico, where numerous westerns have been filmed previously, including L'homme de la plaine (1955), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), Silverado (1985), 3:10 pour Yuma (2007), and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018).
Jensen Ackles and Brady Noon initially shot scenes for the film, but both have dropped out when filming resumed due to scheduling conflicts after production was delayed for over a year caused by the shooting of Halyna Hutchins. They have been replaced by Josh Hopkins and Patrick Scott McDermott.