Arnold Schwarzenegger transforms into Santa in first photo from 'The Man with the Bag'

                                                  

Officially, Arnold Schwarzenegger is making a comeback to the Christmas movie genre. And he's portraying none other than Santa Claus himself this time.

 

On Tuesday, the 1996 "Jingle All the Way" star said that he and co-star Alan Ritchson ("Reacher," "Fast X") have begun filming the Amazon MGM Studios movie "The Man With the Bag." A picture of the two on set was shared by Schwarzenegger, who was dressed festively in a red coat, scarf, and Christmas sweater. The action actor has a full gray beard and his gray hair is swept back.

The caption read, "Santa Claus is coming to town," and Schwarzenegger, 77, posted it. "Working with @alanritchson on The Man with the Bag is amazing. Working with @amazonmgmstudios is a pleasure, New York City is a fantastic host, our director @adamshankman is among the funniest filmmakers I've ever worked with, and I can't wait to spread the Christmas love to all of you."

Allan Rice ("Stuck in the Middle") is the screenwriter, while Adam Shankman ("A Walk to Remember," "Hairspray") is the director. The actors' casting was revealed in March.

While the movie is in production, there aren't many details available, but the synopsis says: "After his magic bag is stolen, Santa uses his bad list to track down Vance, a former thief, who can help him retrieve it. To rescue Christmas, Vance, his daughter, Santa, and a gang of outcast elves must carry off the biggest theft of their lives.

2019 saw the release of Arnold Schwarzenegger's most recent movie.
The actor from "Conan the Barbarian" and "The Terminator" most recently starred in the 2019 motion pictures "Terminator: Dark Fate" and "Iron Mask," both of which were released in the United States in 2020.

The bodybuilder-turned-film star and two-term California governor has been actively committed in environmental concerns through the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative in recent years, aside from his roles in the 2023 Netflix documentary series about himself, "Arnold," and the action comedy "Fubar," which was streamed by the streaming service.

Schwarzenegger talked candidly about doing action movies in his 70s in an interview with USA TODAY last year, acknowledging that his body's capabilities have changed since his 30s.


"It's all about reps," Schwarzenegger remarked in reference to the act. It's practice, practice, and more practice. There has been no change. Some of those things are simply more difficult to accomplish now than they were forty years ago. The next day, you can feel even more sore. Undoubtedly, age has an impact. 

"Forgivable when I was young," he remarked, were stunt injuries. During stunts, I broke my fingers. However, we managed to overcome the injuries," Schwarzenegger continued. "That's tougher to do when you get older."

"If I feel like something could really injure me, which would be a holdup to the show, then we stay away from it," Schwarzenegger stated. Other things that I don't avoid. That's something I've always been good at judging."


He revealed earlier this year on his podcast, "Arnold's Pump Club," that he had had several operations to cure his bicuspid aortic valve, a heart ailment he was born with, and that he had had surgery to implant a pacemaker to treat his arrhythmia.

His medical staff informed Schwarzenegger that it was time, he laughed.