Dwayne Johnson has thrown down the gauntlet, telling Variety on Wednesday night that he’s banning the use of real firearms on the sets of films and TV shows he produces, in light of the fatal Rust set shooting.
The incident on October 21 saw Alec Baldwin firing a live round at the camera from a gun he was told was empty, fatally wounding cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
While an investigation into the incident is ongoing, Johnson, who was in Los Angeles promoting his new Netflix movie Red Notice, said he wasn’t wasting any time.
He told the trade he was on the phone to his company within hours of hearing the news to discuss changes.
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you…that any movie that we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions — any movie, any television show…we won’t use real guns at all,” Johnson told Variety.
Among others, Johnson’s company has produced movies including Red Notice, but also his hit Jumanji films the recent Jungle Cruise, NBC’s Young Rock, and HBO’s Ballers.
“We’re going to switch over to rubber guns, and we’re going to take care of it in post,” he said, meaning visual effects added in post productions to simulate muzzle flashes.
“We’re not going to worry about the dollars; we won’t worry about what it costs.”
Johnson added, “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, [that is] this heartbreaking.”
Red Notice, also starring Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, debuts on Netflix on November 15.