'Bad Santa 2' Release Date Announced; 6 Things We Know About The 2016 Sequel

Each year during the holidays, people around the world settle in and watch their favorite Christmas-themed movies like "Home Alone," "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Elf." Some turn to an R-rated classic, 2003's "Bad Santa," which will soon have a sequel coming out. Billy Bob Thornton, who stars as an infamous swearing and drunken mall Santa named Willie, will be back for another round in 2016 in "Bad Santa 2."

Here are six things we know about the sequel so far:

1. Release Date:

"Bad Santa 2" will arrive just in time for Christmas 2016, as the sequel will hit theaters on Nov. 23, according to Deadline. This date is Thanksgiving week and it will be up against some other anticipated films including Disney's "Moana," Universal's "The Great Wall" and Paramount's untitled Brad Pitt romance movie.

2. Mark Waters To Direct:

In case you're unfamiliar with Waters, he's the man who directed 2004's "Mean Girls" and 2003's "Freaky Friday," which both starred Lindsay Lohan. He'll also be directing a remake of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" in 2017.

3. Kathy Bates Joins Cast:

After spending much of the last few years on FX's "American Horror Story," actress Kathy Bates has signed on to play Willie's mother, Sunny Soke. Fans of "Bad Santa" know what a mess Willie is, so it will be interesting to see if Willie got his drinking problem and foul mouth from his mother or maybe he'll be meeting her for the first time.

4. Returning Stars:

Three of the main characters from the original "Bad Santa" will be back for part two. Thornton will once again be portraying Willie, and Tony Cox will be back as Santa's little helper, Marcus. It's unknown up to this point if Marcus will be released from jail after being arrested at the end of the first "Bad Santa" or if he will appear from behind bars in the sequel. Brett Kelly will also be reprising his role as Thurman Merman a.k.a., "The Kid." Kelly was 10-years-old at the time time the first film came out and he is now 22.

5. The Script:

The screenplay for "Bad Santa 2" is being written by Johnny Rosenthal, Doug Ellin and Shauna Cross. Ellin is the creator of HBO's "Entourage," who also wrote this year's film version of the show. A "Bad Santa" sequel combining the minds of the people behind "Mean Girls" and "Entourage" could pack that same raunchy punch that made the original holiday movie so popular.

6. Similar To Original:

Billy Bob Thornton told The Hollywood Reporter in October 2014, that they were "just waiting on a script" to move forward with the sequel and he was "hopeful" the movie would get made. He also knows that it's going to be no easy task to replicate the first film. "I mean, we’re never going to beat the first one, but you got to get as close as you can. It will do real well, I would imagine," he dished.