Crow director pictured for first time since on-set accident killed ...

Alex Proyas, the director who suffered through a tragic shooting on the set of his movie The Crow nearly three decades ago, was pictured for the first time on Tuesday in Australia since a cinematographer was shot dead on the set of an Alec Baldwin film last week.

Proyas, 58, was helming a film with actor Brandon Lee in 1994 that was supposed to be the breakout role for the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee when the young star suffered the same tragic fate as Halyna Hutchins.

Just a week before The Crow was scheduled to wrap up, the 28-year-old actor was fatally shot in the stomach by a dummy bullet lodged in a .44-caliber handgun and fired by his co-star, Michael Masse, at close range.

He went on to direct a number of other movies like Dark City in 1998, I Robot in 2004, and Gods of Egypt in 2016. 

When asked about his thoughts on the fatal shooting of Hutchins on the set of Rust last week, Proyas initially asked: 'Why would I have anything to say about it.'

But when pressed on the issue as he returned to his car after running errands in Sydney on Tuesday, Proyas said the issue proves movie producers and directors should 'stop using guns on sets.'

'There is no reason to use real guns on sets,' he said, noting: 'They should have stopped using them a long time ago.'

His words echo those of Eliza Hutton, Lee's fiancee when he was killed in 1993, and Shannon Lee, Brendon's sister. 

Brandon and Eliza were set to wed on April 17, 1993, in Ensenada, Mexico a week after Brandon was supposed to wrap filming for The Crow.

However on March 31, 1993 Brandon died at age 28 after he was accidently killed while filming a scene for the movie.  

She told People that Halyna Hutchins' accidental death last week on Rust was an 'avoidable tragedy and urged those with the power to make the changes to 'consider alternatives to real guns on set.'  

Shannon, meanwhile, told The Hollywood Reporter: 'I have been in contact with my mom and with my brother’s fiancée. A lot of people have been reaching out. It’s stirring up a lot of emotions — and frustration.

'I think that in this day and age with all the special effects that are possible and all of the technology, there is no reason to have a prop gun or a gun on a set that can fire a projectile of any sort. It is not necessary, and I would love to see some changes made industry-wide. 

'My brother’s fiancée and I have been talking about it. I think we wish we had thought to do more 28 years ago, and we would love to do that now.'

Alec Baldwin, Rust star and producer, discharged the gun that killed Halyna and injured director Joel Souza last Thursday while filming a scene.

Prior to the incident, first assistant director David Halls told crew members that the revolver being handled by Baldwin, the film's lead actor and producer, was a 'cold gun,' a term used by filmmakers to indicate that a prop gun is safe to handle and not loaded with live ammunition. 

The weapon was one of three prop guns that the film's rookie armorer, Hanna Gutierrez Reed, 24, had set up outside the set location on a gray cart, in the desert near the city of Santa Fe.  

According to search warrant executed by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's office last week, Gutierrez Reed was the last person to handle the gun, leaving it along with the two other revolvers unattended on the cart in the early hours of October 21. 

It is at this point, an insider told The Wrap, that a group of crew members took the weapons without the director and first director's knowledge, and forgot to unload the firearm in question.

Halls, meanwhile, had been fired from another film, Freedom's Path, in 2019 after a crew member was injured following the unexpected discharge of a weapon on set, a producer who spoke on the condition on anonymity told The Washington Post on Monday. 

'Halls was removed from set immediately after the prop gun was discharged,' the producer said, adding: 'Production did not resume filming until Dave was off-site,' and 'an incident report was taken and filed at that time.'

Representatives for the production of Rust did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment on the matter, but in a previous statement issued to multiple outlets, Rust Movie Productions said: 'The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company. 

'Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down. 

'We will continue to cooperate with the Santa Fe authorities in their investigation and offer mental health services to the cast and crew during this tragic time.'

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