Mel Gibson To Play Santa Claus In Fatman Movie

Several notable actors have taken on the iconic Santa Claus mythos over the years, and the latest one to step into the trademark red suit will be Mel Gibson. Gibson will play Santa in the upcoming film Fatman, a dark action comedy that is written by Ian and Eshom Nelms (via Deadline). Gibson’s Claus is depicted as someone fighting to survive as his business continues to decline, but things get even more complicated after a hit is put on Santa by a 12-year old named Billy, angered that he received coal in his stocking on Christmas morning.

That’s a rather aggressive reaction to getting coal, but it should lead to some interesting scenarios, ones we haven’t really seen in a Santa Claus movie before. Ian and Eshom are known for their work on projects like Small Town Crime and Lost on Purpose, and Fatman will be one of the films available at the Cannes film market.

Fatman is being produced by Brandon James (Rough House Pictures), Nadine de Barros (Fortitude), and Lisa Wolofsky (Skywolf), and will be executive produced by David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, and Jody Hill, who are also part of Rough House.

“I am excited to be working with the incredibly talented Nelms brothers who have written a unique, highly entertaining script,” de Barros said. “Mel is the perfect choice as Chris Cringle like we’ve never seen him before. I couldn’t be more thrilled to watch this darkly comedic Christmas film come to life.”

As for Gibson, this is one of several movies in production, as he’s currently working on projects like Boss Level, War Pigs, Waldo, and Black Flies. Fatman currently has no release date, but we’ll keep you posted when it does.

The most recent film interpretation of Santa came in Netflix’s The Christmas Chronicles, which had Kurt Russell taking on the iconic role. That film had a bit of an edge to it but was still family-friendly, and it will be interesting to see where Fatman sits within the spectrum of films like The Santa Clause and Bad Santa.

Are you excited for Fatman? Let us know in the comments!

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