Bad Santa

Bad Santa (known as Badder Santa on the unrated DVD) is a 2003 American Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Terry Zwigoff, and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, Bernie Mac, and John Ritter. This was John Ritter's last film appearance before his death on September 11, 2003. The Coen brothers are credited as executive producers. The film was released in the United States on November 21, 2003.

The film was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.

An unrated version was released on DVD on March 5, 2004 and on Blu-ray Disc on November 20, 2007 as Bad(der) Santa. A director's cut DVD was released in November 2006; it features Zwigoff's cut of the film (including an audio commentary with him and the film's editor), which is three minutes shorter than the theatrical cut and ten minutes shorter than the unrated version.

A sequel, Bad Santa 2, is scheduled for release on November 23, 2016.

Plot

Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton) and his dwarfed assistant Marcus (Tony Cox) are professional thieves. Every year, Willie disguises himself as a department store Santa Claus and Marcus disguises himself as an elf in order for both of them to rob shopping malls blind at night. Marcus takes his duty as an elf extremely seriously, but Willie is an alcoholic, a sex addict, and is gradually unable to perform his Santa duties appropriately with children, much to Marcus' dismay. When they are hired at the fictional Saguaro Square Mall in Phoenix, the vulgar remarks made by Willie shock the prudish mall manager Bob Chipeska (John Ritter), who brings it to the attention of security chief Gin Slagel (Bernie Mac).

Bad Santa 2

Bad Santa 2 is an upcoming American Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Mark Waters and written by Shauna Cross, Doug Ellin, Johnny Rosenthal, and John Phillips. It is the sequel to the 2003 film Bad Santa. The film stars Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Kathy Bates, and Christina Hendricks. Principal photography began on January 11, 2016 in Montreal. The film is scheduled to be released on November 23, 2016 by Broad Green Pictures.

Cast

Production

In 2009, Billy Bob Thornton first mentioned the sequel to the 2003 crime comedy film Bad Santa, with an aim for release at Christmas 2011. On December 16, 2010, it was announced that Miramax and The Weinstein Company had signed on an agreement to develop sequels including Bad Santa's. On March 18, 2011, TheWrap reported that Weinstein confirmed the sequel and negotiations had begun with Thornton to return for the lead role. On July 14, 2011, Los Angeles Times confirmed that Dimension Films and other producers on the film including Geyer Kosinski hired two writers Johnny Rosenthal and John Phillips to work on the screenplay for the sequel. The sequel had been scheduled to begin shooting in the fall 2012 for December 2013 release. On July 30, 2012, it was reported that Steve Pink was in early talks with the studio to rewrite and direct the film. On May 30, 2013, it was revealed that Miramax has hired Entourage creator Doug Ellin to rewrite the script and to possibly direct the sequel.