Dwayne Johnson Reveals His New Policy For Guns On Movie Sets
Dwayne Johnson has made a pledge for his production company to stop using real guns on the sets of his upcoming movies and series.
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In the wake of the tragedy on the set of Rust a couple of weeks ago that ended with the death of Halyna Hutchins, there could be sweeping changes that come through Hollywood in upcoming productions. With safety now at the forefront of people’s minds we could see movies approach stunts in a very different way going forward. Dwayne Johnson spoke about this in a recent interview and made a pledge that his movies would no longer use real guns on set. It is likely we see s similar promise from other on-screen talents and studios in the future.
Dwayne Johnson was giving an interview with Variety at the premiere of his latest movie, Red Notice, which is hitting the streamer on Friday. A number of different topics were brought up in the rather brief talk, but the alleged incident involving Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust came up. It took the life of Hutchins when a prop gun apparently went off with a live round. Johnson responded first about his emotions regarding the incident and then went into what he plans for his company, Seven Bucks Productions, to do in the future.
Dwayne Johnson first talks about how there should be new “protocols” and “safety measures” on sets of films. But he doesn’t stop there. Johnson ends up making a big pledge that could be followed suit by other companies moving ahead. He goes on to say:
“I can’t speak for anyone else, but I can tell you without an absence of clarity here that any movie we have moving forward with Seven Bucks Productions…anything we do or produce we won’t use real guns at all. We’re going to switch over to rubber guns. We’re going to take of it in post. We’re not going to worry about the dollar….”
If an action star and A-lister like Dwayne Johnson is willing to make this kind of commitment about movies he stars in and produces in the future, and then sticks to it, there could be a massive reckoning industry-wide about how films are made. The move to fake guns on set, in this case, rubber ones, would mark a huge transformation and shift in how certain flicks are made. With “realism” a driving component of gun use through the years, it will be interesting to see if other companies are willing to make the same change on set.
An industry leader like Dwayne Johnson can definitely spur this kind of change across the industry if, in fact, they stick with the original idea. It will be fascinating to see how it plays out, especially when the almight dollar starts to get involved. Johnson is coming off a huge year and is gearing up for an even bigger one. There is Red Notice releasing this week which has him sharing the screen with Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot. This is after a summer that saw him with Emily Blunt in Disney’s Jungle Cruise which already has a sequel ordered.
And then next year there is the big one for Dwayne Johnson. That’s going to be his introduction to the DC Extended Universe and the world of superheroes when he releases Black Adam next summer. From the first teasers out there, it could be a much darker and more violent offering from DC than we have seen in the past. This topic of guns on sets will continue to take shape over the short and long term. If Johnson is at the vanguard of change then it isn’t like to be the last we hear about it.
