First Trailer For Mel Gibson’s ‘Fatman’ Released

This week, the first trailer for the black comedy movie Fatman starring Mel Gibson as Santa Claus was released. The film centers on a version of Santa called Chris Cringle played by Gibson, who teams up with the United States military in order to save his company from going bankrupt. He’s forced to contend with an assassin called the Skinny Man played by Walt Goggins, who aims to kill Santa after being hired by a bratty child who received a lump of coal for Christmas.

The trailer opens with Santa using a punching bag for practice as he explains to a woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) that he does not know exactly what he’s doing wrong, having lost his influence. He then decides that it might be time to retire. The woman replies that he still has his influence. Santa explains that two kids once used a deer rifle and shot him on his sleigh, and he now only has a loathing for a world that has forgotten.

The trailer then cuts to a military officer asking Santa for his services, with the jaded holiday icon responding that it is a one time deal. The trailer cuts to a boy opening his Christmas present, only to find a lump of coal in the box. The enraged boy soon runs outside and vows that he has made the wrong move. The trailer then cuts to the boy calling Skinny Man, and making a request for him to kill Santa. We are shown shots of the Skinny Man looking for Santa and interrogating people along the way. The boy demands the Skinny Man to bring him Santa’s head, which the assassin refuses, stating that severed heads rot, making the boy reconsider and demand his beard instead, with the assassin reluctant to shave his beard.

As the military soldiers are seen eating dinner in Santa’s workshop, one soldier explains that it is not the heavy amount of food that keeps him young, but the act of giving. Santa and the Skinny Man soon come face to face, with Skinny Man announcing that he has come for his head. A slow version of “Jingle Bells” starts to play as Santa claims that he is not the first to do so. The audience is then shown shots of Santa and the Skinny Man gathering their weapons and training so they can fight one another. A title card then appears stating, “You don’t want to be on his hit list.” Santa explains that he did not get the job because he was fat and prepares to brawl with the assassin. The trailer ends with Santa introducing his reindeer to the soldiers, joking that Blitzen would “tear their package clean off.”

Fatman will be released in select theaters on November 13 and will be available for digital download on November 17.