Ordinarily, I’m not a fan of seeing Christmas-themed movie trailers in early August, but after almost 13 years away our favourite Bad Santa is back in action. That’s right folks; Billy Bob Thornton is back as no good degenerate Willie Soke for the long-awaited sequel to the cult comedy.

Bad Santa was a modest box office success ($76 million against a $23 million budget) and didn’t immediately lend itself to the sequel treatment. However, Bad Santa found new life on DVD and has gone on to become a mainstay of many people’s annual festive viewing. I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t feel like Christmas until I’ve seen Bad Santa punch a child square in the face. Well, that and Hans Gruber falling off Nakatomi Plaza in slow motion, it’s tradition.

In case you wondered, it’s the same actor (Brett Kelly) that played the unfortunately named Thurman Merman from the original. He hasn’t changed one bit. Also starring Tony Cox, Christina Hendricks, and Kathy Bates, Bad Santa 2 will be in cinemas on November 23.

BAD SANTA 2 returns Academy Award®-winner BILLY BOB THORNTON to the screen as America’s favorite anti-hero, Willie Soke. Fueled by cheap whiskey, greed and hatred, Willie teams up once again with his angry little sidekick, Marcus (TONY COX), to knock off a Chicago charity on Christmas Eve. Along for the ride is ‘the kid’ – chubby and cheery Thurman Merman (BRETT KELLY), a 250-pound ray of sunshine who brings out Willie’s sliver of humanity.

Mommy issues arise when the pair are joined by Academy Award®, Golden Globe and Emmy-winner KATHY BATES, as 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, played by Emmy Award-nominee CHRISTINA HENDRICKS, the charity director with a heart of gold and libido of steel.