Walton Goggins’ Fatman Finds Streaming Success 5 Years Later Despite Poor Reviews

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A surprising movie is quickly becoming popular on streaming platforms, and it stars an actor from the Prime Video series Fallout. What’s really interesting is that despite a less-than-stellar 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s still a hit with viewers.

According to FlixPatrol, the Mel Gibson film Fatman is currently the second most popular movie on Paramount+ in the United States. It’s not immediately clear why Fatman is performing so well, but it recently became available on the streaming service on November 1st. This new availability, combined with the approaching holidays, may be encouraging more people to watch it.

The recent surge in popularity of the movie Fatman seems to be working, especially in the United States. It jumped from fourth place on Tuesday, November 4th, to second place in less than a day – a surprising result considering it stars Mel Gibson. While some viewers may have reservations about Gibson, the presence of Walton Goggins, known for his role as Ghoul in Fallout, could be attracting audiences.

Walton Goggins’ Fatman Is a Dark Comedy With Poor Reviews

Directed by Eshom and Ian Nelms, Fatman stars Mel Gibson as a disillusioned Santa Claus. He’s struggling because kids these days are much more aggressive, and he’s lost some of the joy in his work. Things take a dark turn when the U.S. government enlists his help, and he ends up targeted by a vengeful 12-year-old boy who received coal for Christmas. The boy hires an assassin, played by Walton Goggins, to eliminate Santa.

Critics weren’t impressed with Fatman. One review from Radio Times compared it unfavorably to Bad Santa, calling it simply “bad.” While Ars Technica praised Walton Goggins’ performance, they noted the film didn’t quite work overall. The reviewer felt the interesting idea behind the movie was stronger than the final product, and the humor felt inconsistent.

Hit Movies Arriving on Paramount+ in November 2025

Alongside Fatman, Paramount+ will be adding a lot of popular movies in November, including Days of Thunder, four Indiana Jones films, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Saving Private Ryan, Starship Troopers, The Brady Bunch Movie, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Titanic, and Varsity Blues.

I was so excited to read that Tom Cruise is talking to Paramount about making another Days of Thunder! Variety recently did a piece on how things are going with the studio’s new owner, David Ellison, and they mentioned Cruise is interested in sequels to both Top Gun and Days of Thunder. It’s great to see potential for more films in that universe, especially considering the success of the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline series, which they also brought up.

Fatman is now streaming on Paramount+.

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2025-11-05 22:06