Mel Gibson has slowly been mounting a comeback over the last few years, although at this point, his best chance of regaining his former status as one of the biggest stars in the business is a lot more likely to happen on the other side of the camera.
As a director, Gibson has lost none of his visual or storytelling prowess, as evidenced by his last effort Hacksaw Ridge earning $180 million at the box office and picking up six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, where it walked away with wins for Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing.
As an actor, the 64 year-old has struggled to gain any real momentum lately and has largely been relegated to supporting roles in forgettable genre fare or headlining the occasional hidden gem like Get the Gringo or Blood Father. Lethal Weapon 5 has the potential to deliver Gibson’s biggest hit in a long time if the fifth installment in the franchise ever ends up happening, but he’ll next be seen taking a most unexpected role when he appears as Santa Claus in upcoming dark comedy Fatman.
In what sounds like a much more sinister spin on Netflix’s The Christmas Chronicles with Kurt Russell, Fatman will see a 12 year-old kid hire a hitman to kill jolly old Saint Nick after getting a lump of coal in his stocking. The always reliable Walton Goggins plays the contract killer in what’s shaping up to be a unique take on the standard tropes of the Christmas movie, and you can check out the first image of Gibson as Santa Claus below.
Saban Films recently acquired the distribution rights, although there’s no word yet if it will be released in theaters or head straight to streaming. Based on the concept alone, however, we at least know that Fatman should be arriving before the end of the year.