2003’s Bad Santa was one of the most unexpectedly hilarious yuletide treats to get unwrapped at the box office in all of cinematic history, but talk of a sequel has largely dissipated over the years, with Billy Bob Thornton most recently expressing skepticism about the project, which Entourage director Doug Ellin was supposed in line to direct. That was seven months back, but with Ellin’s Entourage movie bowing in theaters this summer, the helmer is getting the discussion going again by revealing that his current plan is to shoot Bad Santa 2 this fall.
Collider‘s Steve Weintraub got the scoop while talking to Ellin about Entourage. “I’m supposed to do Bad Santa 2 in September,” the director explained, discussing his upcoming slate. When asked to specify, he was wary of giving details but said, “We’re working on the script right now and if we get it right, we’ll shoot it in September/October, Billy Bob is back and good to go.”
As for whether the sequel will again be a hard-R comedy, Ellin is pushing for a “hopefully similar tone to the first one.”
It’s exciting to hear that Thornton is again taking on the role of Willie T. Stokes, a sad-sack department store Santa Claus who in the first film wound up mired in a criminal plot. However, given how long it’s been since the first Bad Santa, the script will have to be really terrific if this sequel is going to recapture the filthy magic of the original. There’s no escaping that the novelty factor is gone from the film’s premise, so Ellin and company will have to come up with something really interesting to make it worth returning to the world of Bad Santa.
We’ll keep you posted on whether Bad Santa 2 does go before cameras this September.