Billy Bob Thornton suits up in new Bad Santa 2 images

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

This winter we're up for yet another entry in the recent slew of long-delayed sequels when Billy Bob Thornton suits up once again as Willie T. Soke for BAD SANTA 2. The gleefully grotesque original was released over a decade ago and soon became a cult Christmas hit, so naturally talk of a sequel began popping up fairly quickly. After a lot of talk and not much action, BAD SANTA 2 kicked off production earlier this year with Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, and Brett Kelly returning to reprise their roles. USA Today got their hands on a few new photos from the upcoming sequel which show that the characters aren't necessarily doing any better.

Billy Bob Thornton knows that sequels are tough because "you're never going to beat the first one," but that they've given BAD SANTA 2 "the spirit of the first one, but we push the emotions here … and we push the nasty stuff." The BAD SANTA sequel will kick off when Tony Cox's Marcus is released from prison and re-teams with Willie in order to rob a charity on Christmas Eve in Chicago. Kathy Bates also stars as Willie's crime-boss mother as well as Christina Hendricks as a "good-hearted charity director with a libido that equals Willie's."

An official synopsis for BAD SANTA 2:

BAD SANTA 2 returns Academy Award®-winner BILLY BOB THORNTON to the screen as America’s favorite anti-hero, Willie Soke. Fueled by cheap whiskey, greed and hatred, Willie teams up once again with his angry little sidekick, Marcus (TONY COX), to knock off a Chicago charity on Christmas Eve. Along for the ride is ‘the kid’ – chubby and cheery Thurman Merman (BRETT KELLY), a 250-pound ray of sunshine who brings out Willie’s sliver of humanity.

Mommy issues arise when the pair are joined by Academy Award®, Golden Globe and Emmy-winner KATHY BATES, as Willie’s horror story of a mother, Sunny Soke. A super butch super bitch, Sunny raises the bar for the gang’s ambitions, while somehow lowering the standards of criminal behavior. Willie is further burdened by lusting after the curvaceous and prim Diane, played by Emmy Award-nominee CHRISTINA HENDRICKS, the charity director with a heart of gold and libido of steel.

BAD SANTA 2 is set for a November 23, 2016 release.

I loved the first enough to give BAD SANTA 2 a chance, but I'm not getting my hopes up.