William Hurt has abandoned the role of Gregg Allman, pulling out of the film Midnight Rider, following the February 20 accidental death of crew member Sarah Jones. Jones was hit and killed by a train on location in Georgia, while trying to set up a shot with Hurt, who was on a hospital bed placed on train tracks as part of a dream sequence. Both the film, which suspended production following the accident, and its crew have come under much scrutiny since February, and Jones’s death has jumpstarted a movement to raise awareness about film-production safety. There was a hugely vocal campaign to include Jones in the Oscars “In Memoriam” segment this year, despite the deadline having passed. She made it. Barely. There have also been several demonstrations in Jones’s name, including a candlelight vigil where Jones’s father identified his daughter’s representative status in the film-production community. “You are Sarah Jones,” he said, pointing to the hundreds of people who gathered.

No wonder William Hurt now wants nothing to do with the film. Though the actor hasn’t made any official statement on the accident, in an e-mail to a friend that was reprinted in the L.A. Times, Hurt wrote the following.

I said, “Sixty seconds is not enough time to get us off this bridge.” There was a communal pause. No one backed me up. Then, we ..... Just went ahead. I took off my shoes, got on the heavy, metal hospital bed and began preparing. We didn't have sixty seconds. We had less than thirty.

The production team is looking to re-start filming on Midnight Rider in Los Angeles, but they’ll have a hard time doing so without their star. They also may have a hard time finding crew members to work with them. There’s a Facebook page with more than 10,000 members, titled “I REFUSE to work on Midnight Rider! For Sarah!!!” It’s also recently come to light that, just days before the accident, the film’s producer made a speech where she boasted “We make movies by our own rules.” Maybe they should revise their rulebook.