Fatman
Short description
Fatman centres on Chris Cringle, a Santa Claus who has seen better days. His operation is running out of money, and the business of delivering toys has become so unprofitable that he is forced to seek help from the United States military. Meanwhile, a wealthy twelve-year-old named Billy Wenan receives a lump of coal in his Christmas stocking and responds by hiring a professional hit man, Skinny Man, to track down and kill Santa. The two threads draw Chris toward a confrontation that is far from the cosy image of the holiday season.
The film was written and directed by brothers Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms, marking their second feature and the first of two credits listed together, preceding Red Right Hand in 2024. Mel Gibson plays Chris, with Walton Goggins as the assassin, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Ruth and Chance Hurstfield as Billy. It was produced by Michelle Lang, Lisa Wolofsky and Robert Menzies, with a credited cast of 47 and crew of 109.
Released in October 2020, Fatman cost about 20 million USD and returned roughly 2 million USD worldwide. On IMDb it holds 5.9 out of 10 from around 35,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.6 from 988 votes, while the film critics' rating stands at 5.2 from 118 reviews, placing it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The final shootout scene took 4 days to film in temperatures of minus 36 degrees Celsius.
- Walton Goggins' character has a toy police car that Santa gave him. He drives the exact same model, only instead of black and white, it's entirely black. It's a four-door 1978 Plymouth Fury sedan.
- Ian Nelms and Eshom Nelms wrote the screenplay for "Hunting Santa" back in 2006 and spent over 13 years trying to get it made.
- At the beginning of the film, Chris, played by Mel Gibson, is listening to the radio and hears guys dropping a bowling ball from above onto the highway, causing a serious traffic accident. This episode is based on a real-life incident and is also featured in one of the episodes of the 'Beavis and Butt-Head' series (1993-2011).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
