James Gunn's "greatest fear" is that someone will be fatally injured on his film sets.
James Gunn
The 55-year-old director made the confession on Twitter after Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old director of photography, was accidentally killed on the set of the Western movie 'Rust' when Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm.
James wrote on the micro-blogging platform: "My greatest fear is that someone will be fatally hurt on one of my sets. I pray this will never happen."
James - whose best-known movies include 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' - subsequently offered his sympathies to Hutchins' friends and family.
His post continued: "My heart goes out to all of those affected by the tragedy today on Rust, especially Halyna Hutchins & her family. (sic)"
Fellow filmmaker Adam Egypt Mortimer has also taken to social media to pay tribute to the cinematographer.
The director - who helmed the mystery-thriller film 'Archenemy' - described Hutchins as a "brilliant talent" and admitted to being "infuriated" by the incident.
He wrote on the platform: "I’m so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set. She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and to film. [heart emoji] (sic)"
In 1993, Brandon Lee - the son of the late movie icon Bruce Lee - died at the age of 28 while filming a scene for the gothic superhero film 'The Crow'.
A weapon was supposed to fire a blank during the scene, but a subsequent autopsy confirmed that a bullet was found near his spine.
Following the latest on-set tragedy, Lee's sister Shannon wrote on Twitter: "No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period."
Tagged in Alec Baldwin Brandon Lee James Gunn