Though the festive season is behind us for another year and the halls have been stripped of their boughs of holly, Broad Green and Miramax are quietly putting the pieces together for their long-awaited festive sequel Bad Santa 2.
Production began to pick up steam before the turn of the year when Mark Waters’ (Mean Girls) R-rated feature added Kathy Bates, before securing an opportune November 2016 release window. That momentum has carried into 2016, too, with Deadline today reporting that the film has recruited Mad Men alum Christina Hendricks.
Just in the nick of time, too, now that production is set to finally get underway next week in Montreal. As for Hendricks’ role among the festive shenanigans in Bad Santa 2, Deadline writes that she’ll step into the high heels of an upper class, Ivy League-educated woman who presides over a prestigious charity. And that’s exactly the kind of selfless business that attracts Billy Bob Thornton’s sleazy crook Willie Soke who, alongside his partner in crime Marcus (Tony Cox) target Hendricks’ business for a quick smash and grab.
Channeling the spirit of the original, though, it’s said that the newcomer also harbors a soft spot for shady lowlifes dressed up as Santa, much like Lauren Graham in the cult 2003 original.
More than a decade after Billy Bob Thornton first sneered and drank his way through the holidays as the curmudgeonly Willie Soke, Bad Santa 2 will welcome back cast members old and new – Hendricks included – when Mark Waters’ follow-up arrives on November 23, 2016.
