Alec Baldwin is picking up where he left off in the movie that claimed a D.P.'s life -- 'cause her widower has settled his lawsuit against Baldwin and others ... and he'll now executive produce the movie side by side with AB.
Shocking news broke Wednesday morning in relation to the "Rust'" drama ... namely, Baldwin is going to reprise his lead role -- as is every other actor who was involved at first -- with the only difference now being who's running the show ... and that would be Matthew Hutchins.
Indeed ... the husband of Halyna Hutchins -- who was shot and killed by Baldwin last year -- has announced he's no longer pursuing a lawsuit against AB or the "Rust" producers, saying they've reached terms and agreed to drop his wrongful death lawsuit.
Not just that, but he's also reviving the flick ... plus, he's stepping in as the new executive producer and seeing this thing through -- a stunning development and a complete 180.
Matt says, "We have reached a settlement, subject to court approval, for our wrongful death case against the producers of Rust, including Alec Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions, LLC. As part of that settlement, our case will be dismissed."
He goes on to say, "The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board in January 2023. I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin). All of us believe Halyna's death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna's final work."
Attorneys and a rep for Rust Movie Productions LLC said they were happy to have landed on the same page as Matt, and are also ecstatic they can complete their passion project.
Alec, for his part, says ... "Throughout this difficult process, everyone has maintained the specific desire to do what is best for Halyna's son. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the resolution of this tragic and painful situation." Director Joel Souza also expressed his happiness with this turn of events -- so everyone's all good now apparently.
While things might be fine civilly, there's still a criminal investigation that's working its way through the system -- and based on recent revelations from the Santa Fe County D.A. ... Alec is not out of the woods, and very well might be prosecuted sooner than later.
So, their lead star might be in the spotlight on two different fronts ... how 'bout that?!