'Bad Santa 2' will feature the return of Billy Bob Thornton in the lead role as Santa Claus impersonator and professional thief Willie T. Stokes. Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe-awardee Kathy Bates has recently signed on to play Thornton's on-screen "foul mouthed mother".
According to Rolling Stone, Billy Bob Thornton is all set to reprise his role as Willie T. Stokes in Mark Waters' upcoming follow-up to the 2003 black comedy hit of the same name. In the original film, Thornton's Willie was a struggling alcoholic and professional thief who disguised himself as Santa Clause every Christmas season in order to rob shopping malls at night together with his dwarf comrade Marcus, played by Tony Cox. It also starred Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, Bernie Mac, John Ritter and Octavia Spencer.
Another article from ScreenCrush reported that Kathy Bates has jumped aboard to play Thornton's on-screen "foul mouthed mother". The Oscar-winning actress, director and filmmaker will presumably get a central role in the upcoming sequel. It was also announced that original cast members Cox and Kelly will be back to reprise their roles as Marcus and Thurman Merman respectively.
Waters of 'Mean Girls' fame will be helming 'Bad Santa 2' in replacement of Terry Zwigoff who won't be returning for a second time, according to A.V. Club. Waters also worked on other mainstream hits including 'Freaky Friday', 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past', 'The Spiderwick Chronicles', 'Just Like Heaven' and 'Vampire Academy'. He also worked as producer on the 2009 romantic comedy '500 Days of Summer', which starred Zoey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
'Bad Santa 2' is an upcoming sequel to 2003's film of the same name scheduled to be released some time in 2016. Johnny Rosenthal, John Phillips and Doug Ellin are penning the screenplay. The original film received generally favorable reviews and earned $76 million against a $23 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.
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