Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson says he will not use real guns in his movies anymore after the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a film set last month.
Key points:
- Dwayne Johnson said his production company “will not use real guns ever again”
- He said going forward they would use rubber guns modified by CGI
- Alec Baldwin, who was holding the gun that killed Halyna Hutchins, has rejected claims the set was unsafe
Johnson, who was in Los Angeles attending the world premiere of Netflix movie Red Notice with co-stars Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, said films made by his company, Seven Bucks Production, would “not use real guns ever again.”
“This has created a new lens and perspective on how we can operate moving forward,” Johnson told reporters on the red carpet.
“As awful as this situation is, we have to use this as an example to be smarter as we move forward, be safer. Making movies and on sets is still a safe place and a lot of precaution is taken.”
Ms Hutchins was killed on October 21 on the set of Rust when a gun being held by actor and producer Alec Baldwin released a live bullet, police said.
Baldwin had been told the gun was “cold”, an industry term meaning it was safe to use.
“That was a terrible scenario,” Johnson said.
“I’ve known Alec for many, many years. He’s a buddy of mine. And my heart goes out to the families of everybody who was involved.”
The incident has reignited concern about the on-set use of real guns like the weapon discharged by Baldwin, who has disputed claims that the set was chaotic and unsafe.
Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions is behind most of his recent movies and TV shows like Red Notice, Jungle Cruise and Hobbs & Shaw.
There are many alternatives to real guns loaded with blanks available to film productions, including adding muzzle flash and recoil to fake guns with CGI, or using airsoft weapons.
“Moving forward, on any Seven Bucks Production, television, film or otherwise, we will not use real guns ever again,” Johnson said.
“We won’t worry about the dollars, we won’t worry about the math or what the cost is. I think we’re going to do it the right way.”
Countless famous action movies have opted to modify fake on-set guns with CGI, including the John Wick franchise and The Raid.
Reuters/ABC
