Following ‘Rust’ tragedy, Dwayne Johnson pledges to stop using real guns on productions
After the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Alec Baldwin's film Rust, Dwayne Johnson has pledged to stop using real firearms on all projects that are produced by his company, Seven Bucks Productions.
As per Variety, Johnson's new movie 'Red Notice' has the A-list actor handling guns.
The upcoming big-budget film stars superstars Johnson, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, and is one of many Hollywood films that feature firearms for the sake of action-packed storylines.
"First of all, I was heartbroken. We lost a life. My heart goes out to her family and everybody on set. I've known Alec, too, for a very long time," Johnson spoke to Variety at the premiere of 'Red Notice' in Los Angeles.
Johnson said he will only use rubber guns on his sets and will enforce that rule with any studio he is working with.
"I can't speak for anyone else, but I can tell you, without an absence of clarity here, that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions -- any movie, any television show, or anything we do or produce -- we won't use real guns at all," Johnson said to Variety.
"We're going to switch over to rubber guns, and we're going to take care of it in post. We're not going to worry about the dollars, we won't worry about what it costs," he said.
Johnson recalled that after the news broke confirming that Hutchins had died on the 'Rust' set, he was on the phone with his team within a couple of hours to discuss what changes his company needed to make to ensure complete safety moving forward.
"I love the movie business. There are safety protocols and measures that we have always taken in the movie business and we take very seriously, and these sets are safe sets, and we're proud of that. But accidents do happen. And when something like this happens of this magnitude, this heartbreaking, I think the most prudent thing and the smartest thing to do is just pause for a second and really re-examine how you're going to move forward and how we're going to work together," Johnson said.
"Any movie we do that Seven Bucks does with any studio, the rule is we're not going to use real guns. That's it," he added.
Seven Bucks Productions, founded by Johnson and his longtime business partner Dany Garcia, is behind some of the most lucrative films in recent years from 'Jumanji' to 'Jungle Cruise' to 'Hobbs and Shaw' and the upcoming 'Black Adam'.
Johnson's endorsement to end the use of real firearms can kick off a domino effect of safe decision-making across Hollywood productions. (ANI)