BAD SANTA 2 Begins Filming in January, Billy Bob Thornton Set to Return

Miramax has confirmed that Bad Santa 2 is officially in the works, with Billy Bob Thornton returning as Willie Soke, the worst mall Santa in existence. Production is set to begin in January, thirteen years after the original was released. Interestingly, the press release does not indicate whether or not director Terry Zwigoff will be returning.

As someone who was not as taken as most with the original, I’m not too hyped for this one, but this will, no doubt, be exciting for fans that keep Bad Santa in their holiday movie watching rotation.

LOS ANGELES, CA (October 29, 2015) – Miramax^® and Broad Green Pictures announced today that Billy Bob Thornton (television series ”Fargo”, Sling Blade, Simple Plan, Bandits) will reprise his signature role as Willie Soke in BAD SANTA 2, the follow-up to the raucous comedy hit BAD SANTA first released in 2003. Geyer Kosinski (The Astronaut Farmer, The Bad News Bears,television series “Fargo”) will produce.

Miramax^® will partner with Broad Green Pictures to co-finance and co-produce. Broad Green will distribute BAD SANTA 2 theatrically in the U.S. during the 2016 holiday season. Sierra/Affinity will handle foreign sales with sales starting at the upcoming American Film Market (November 4-11, 2015).

“We’ve been waiting far too long to see Billy Bob’s Willie Soke mess with the holiday season in his own unique way,” said Zanne Devine, Miramax’s EVP of Film & TV. “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Billy Bob, the entire creative and producing team, and Broad Green and Sierra/Affinity to bring back the outrageous humor and characters that made this movie brand iconic in the first place.”

“Bad Santa has been a part of our family holiday tradition ever since we all saw it together at our neighborhood theatre,” said Broad Green Pictures CEO Gabriel Hammond and CCO Daniel Hammond. “We are excited to bring this memorable character and new chapter back to the big screen.”

David Thwaites will oversee the project for Miramax^® and Victor Moyers for Broad Green Pictures. Principal photography will commence in January 2016 in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

BAD SANTA 2 is the latest project in a busy Miramax^® pipeline of new content: In July, Miramax^® in partnership with Roadside Attractions released the critically acclaimed summer specialty box office hit MR. HOLMES (http://www.miramax.com/movie/mr-holmes/) starring Academy Award^®nominees Ian McKellen and Laura Linney; in January, Miramax^® partnered with Sony-Screen Gems on the release of the Kevin Hart comedy hit THE WEDDING RINGER (http://www.miramax.com/movie/the-wedding-ringer/); the supernatural thriller THE 9^TH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX starring Jamie Dornan, Aaron Paul and Sarah Gadon is in post-production and represents Miramax’s first foreign sales partnership with Sierra/Affinity; and as recently announced, Universal, Miramax^® and StudioCanal are co-financing BRIDGET JONES’S BABY with Working Title producing. As a television studio, Miramax^® also just jointly announced with El Rey Network the third season of “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series” (http://www.miramax.com/series/from-dusk-till-dawn-the-series/), with season two having concluded on El Rey Network on October 27. 

Since its inception, Broad Green Pictures has released nine films including A WALK IN THE WOODS, 99 HOMES, LEARNING TO DRIVE, I SMILE BACK and SAMBA. In addition to BAD SANTA 2, Broad Green’s upcoming slate includes SONG OF LAHORE, THE DARK HORSE, three films by Terrence Malick (KNIGHT OF CUPS, VOYAGE OF TIME and THE UNTITLED TERRENCE MALICK PROJECT), INFILTRATOR, starring Brian Cranston and BRAIN ON FIRE starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Richard Armitage, Carrie-Anne Moss and Tyler Perry.

The deal was brokered on behalf of Miramax by Steve Hutensky and WME Global; Christopher Tricarico, EVP, Business & Legal Affairs and General Counsel, and Marc Danon, President of Acquisitions & Co-Productions, handled for Broad Green. Thornton is repped by WME.