Press Release: Bad Santa 2 Filming Soon

By Guest Column on October 30, 2015

A sequel to 2003 manly movie “Bad Santa” is happening. Soon. It will shoot in January and release Christmas 2016.

Here is what Billy Bob Thornton told THR (via Slashfilm), below that is the new press release.

“We’re just waiting for a script, ya know? We’re never gonna beat the first one but you got to get as close as you can. You just can’t go and do it haflway so we’re waiting for something that’s close enough. It’ll do real well I imagine and people will say, ‘Well, it wasn’t as good as the first one’ and we’ll say ‘Yeah, we knew it wouldn’t be’ but I think it should be fun and I think people who liked [the first one] will enjoy it and hopefully we’ll get it off.”

MIRAMAX^®AND BROAD GREEN PICTURES RING IN THE HOLIDAYS

WITH BILLY BOB THORNTON BACK AS BAD SANTA

Billy Bob Thornton To Reprise His Golden Globe Nominated Role as Willie Soke in BAD SANTA Sequel. Broad Green Pictures to Co-Finance, Co-Produce and

Handle Domestic Theatrical Distribution

Sierra/Affinity to Sell International at Upcoming American Film Market

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.

A few years back Steve Pink was going to direct this, but then that job fell to Doug Ellin. They need to get the fat kid and the Dwarf back. Is Dwarf the political correct term for midgets? Wait, we don’t give a fuck about politically correctness around here.