Rumors of a sequel to Terry Zwigoff’s jet-black comedy Bad Santa have been making the rounds ever since Billy Bob Thornton’s wicked character survived being gunned down by police officers on the front steps of a young kid’s suburban home. Now that producers of the 2003 hit and executives at Dimension Films are moving ahead on a potential sequel, they hinted that they might be ready to fill audience member's stockings with not one additional Santa but potentially two installments that would complete a devious trilogy.
The L.A. Times, which reports the sequel deal, says up-and-coming writers Johnny Rosenthal and John Phillips have been hired to come up with two separate ideas for a sequel script. And if two really good ideas come across the Bad Santa team’s desk, they are not opposed to greenlighting a second and third Santa.
Zwigoff’s Santa earned an impressive $76 million in worldwide grosses in 2003 by flying in the face of the expected cheery holiday film. The Times says Zwigoff is not attached to any sequel, and mentions that original screenwriters Glenn Ficarra and John Requa – who are directing the upcoming Crazy Stupid Love with Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell – will not be contributing anything to subsequent Santa films. But they did say Thornton’s eager to reprise his black-hearted role and added that potential sequels could address the spoiled relationship between Thornton’s disgruntled Willie Stokes and his partner in crime, Marcus, played by the irascible Tony Cox. Is there a chance they can bring Lauren Graham’s character back as well?
I also wonder if Cameron Diaz has her agent on the phone pitching not one but two potential sequels to this summer’s Bad Teacher, as well?
