How do you plan the rollout of a film that became notorious for an on-set tragedy?
The ill-fated western “Rust” has been trying to figure that out. The movie is finally being released on Friday, three and a half years after its cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, was shot and killed by a real bullet fired from an old-fashioned revolver that its star, Alec Baldwin, was rehearsing with on a set in New Mexico.
Now that the film is finally coming out after years of lawsuits, investigations and two criminal trials, its rollout has been decidedly muted. Unable to find traction at better-known film festivals, “Rust” premiered last fall at a small cinematography festival in Poland. Now, as it is being released in a limited number of theaters (with none so far in New York City) and on demand, it is forgoing the traditional red-carpet premiere, and Mr. Baldwin has not sat for any splashy interviews.
The filmmakers said that their overriding goal in finishing the film and pushing for its release was to showcase the final work of Ms. Hutchins, who was a 42-year-old up-and-coming cinematographer when she was killed. And a legal settlement calls for some of the film’s earnings to go to her husband and son.
“If I was to make a direct plea to someone about seeing the movie,” said the film’s director, Joel Souza, “I’d say that a lot of really good people worked really hard on finishing this movie to honor her.”
Mr. Souza was injured in the shooting by the bullet that killed Ms. Hutchins, which passed through her and lodged in his shoulder. He said that at first he doubted he would ever want to return to the movie business. But eventually a plan came together to finish “Rust,” with Mr. Souza back in the director’s chair.
The plan not only had the blessing of Ms. Hutchins’s husband, Matthew Hutchins, but it was at the heart of a settlement agreement he reached with the movie’s producers, including Mr. Baldwin, after he filed a wrongful-death lawsuit.
Brian Panish, a lawyer for Mr. Hutchins, said in an email this week that the “Rust” producers have still not paid the full settlement owed to the family, which was due in 2023. The production company has said that part of the settlement is tied to the film’s earnings, which will go toward paying Mr. Hutchins, who is now an executive producer on the film, and his son, Andros, who was 9 when his mother died. The film’s original producers will not benefit financially from the movie’s release, said Melina Spadone, a representative for Rust Movie Productions.
So bringing out the movie entails a delicate balance: both earning money for the Hutchins family, while taking care to market the film with the sobriety required for a movie synonymous with real-life tragedy.
After Mr. Hutchins reached the settlement with producers, the movie finished filming in Montana in 2023 with a new cinematographer, Bianca Cline. The filmmakers decided to use only fake weapons that were incapable of firing.
Ms. Cline and Mr. Souza’s main priority was to salvage as much original footage by Ms. Hutchins as possible, which meant putting together a puzzle of old and new footage by employing editing tricks and, in a few instances, special effects.
As the film was being completed, the legal drama surrounding the fatal shooting only intensified.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer who loaded a live bullet into the gun that day in 2021, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Facing his own criminal case, Mr. Baldwin went on trial in Santa Fe on an involuntary manslaughter charge, but a judge dismissed the case after finding that the state had withheld evidence from the defense. (Mr. Baldwin is now suing prosecutors over what he says was a “malicious prosecution.”)
Previous films marked by tragedy saw a wider release. After the actor Brandon Lee died during the filming of “The Crow,” the movie was released in more than 2,000 theaters in 1994 and grossed more than $50 million. (It had a bigger budget than “Rust,” which resumed production with a budget of about $8 million.)
“Rust” will have a much smaller initial theatrical run this weekend, on about 115 screens across the country. It is being released simultaneously on demand on services including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+ and Fandango at Home. Representatives for the movie said the distribution plan was made with the intention of maximizing profits for the Hutchins family.
Some critics have questioned the decision to release the film, including several cinematographers who pushed back on the plan to premiere the movie in Poland.
But people involved in it said that they wanted to honor her memory. “In the long arc of time, I believe it’s better that at the end of all this there’s a finished movie, rather than just a tragedy and then nothing,” said Devon Werkheiser, an actor in the film, in a video posted to his Instagram this week.
Rachel Mason, a friend of Ms. Hutchins who made a documentary about the tragedy that was released in March, was given permission to comb through her text messages about the making of “Rust” and her notebooks, where she recorded ideas for the film. “Halyna wanted to make ‘Rust,’ and people don’t always give her that,” she said. “She would not have touched a film that she didn’t care about.”
In the documentary, Ms. Hutchins’s mother, Olga Solovey, who is suing the production along with her husband and other daughter, said she wanted to see her daughter’s final work completed.
Mr. Souza, the director, said that some cast and crew members would gather in Los Angeles on Thursday night for a small private screening.
“It’s a tough one to market,” he said. “How do you message it? The best way I can think of is that you hope people will like the movie on its merits.”