Thurman Merman returns in new Bad Santa 2 stills

Broad Green Pictures and Miramax have just released several images from their upcoming Bad Santa 2, the follow-up to the 2003 hit comedy. Check out the teaser poster for the film in the gallery viewer below alongside several new stills that feature the return of Billy Bob Thornton’s Willie Soke, Tony Cox’s Marcus and Brett Kelly’s Thurman Merman!

Bad Santa 2 is also set to star Kathy Bates (Misery, Titanic, Dolores Claiborne) as Willy’s tough-as-nails mom Sunny Soke, Ryan Hansen (Veronica Mars, 2 Broke Girls) and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men, The Neon Demon) as Regent and Diane Hastings, a married couple who run a charitable organization and Jenny Zigrino (50 Shades of Black) and Jeff Skowron (The Good Shepherd) as security guards Gina and Dorfman, respectively.

Fueled by cheap whiskey, greed and hatred, Willie teams up once again with his angry little sidekick, Marcus, to knock off a Chicago charity on Christmas Eve. Along for the ride is ‘the kid’ – chubby and cheery Thurman Merman, a 250-pound ray of sunshine who brings out Willie’s sliver of humanity.

Mommy issues arise when the pair are joined by 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, the charity director with a heart of gold and libido of steel.

Directed by Mark Waters (Freaky Friday, Mean Girls), Miramax and Broad Green Pictures have partnered to co-finance and co-produce Bad Santa 2 with Broad Green handling U.S. theatrical distribution which is set for release November 23, 2016.

Geyer Kosinski (The Astronaut Farmer, The Bad News Bears) and Andrew Gunn (Freaky Friday) are producing. The screenplay for Bad Santa 2 was written by Johnny Rosenthal, along with Doug Ellin (Entourage) and Shauna Cross (If I Stay, Whip It). Executive producers are Miramax’s Zanne Devine and David Thwaites, Broad Green’s Gabriel and Daniel Hammond, Mark Waters, Jessica Tuchinsky, Adam Fields, and Doug Ellin.

How do you think Willie Soke winds up again crossing paths with Thurman Merman? Share your thoughts in the comments below!