Billy Bob Thornton still doesn’t care if you’re naughty or nice. Miramax and Broad Green Pictures said today they are teaming to co-finance and co-produce Bad Santa 2 with the Our Brand Is Crisis co-star reprising his role as mall Santa/curmudgeonly conman Willie Stokes. Broad Green will distribute the sequel to the 2003 holiday dark comedy, which will start principal photography in January in Montreal. Sierra/Affinity will rep international rights at AFM next month.
“Bad Santa has been a part of our family holiday tradition ever since we all saw it together at our neighborhood theater,” Broad Green Pictures CEO Gabriel Hammond and CCO Daniel Hammond said in a statement. “We are excited to bring this memorable character and new chapter back to the big screen.”
The original Bad Santa starred Thornton and Tony Cox as criminals posing as Santa and his elf to knock over department stores on Christmas Eve. But their plans go south as a meddling kid (Brett Kelly) gets under the crooked Kringle’s skin and a security guy (Bernie Mac) gets wise to the caper.
The sequel has been in the works since at least 2012, when Steve Pink was attached to direct for Dimension Films. No word from Miramax or Broad Green on a helmer but the script for Bad Santa 2 was written by Doug Ellin, Shauna Cross, John Phillips and Johnny Rosenthal.
David Thwaites will oversee the project for Miramax and Victor Moyers for Broad Green. Adam Fields and Geyer Kosinski are producing.
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