Watch NSFW, Mother-Punching Red Band ‘Bad Santa 2’ Trailer
Thirteen years after the filthy hijinks of Bad Santa, professional thieves Willie T. Soke (Billy Bob Thornton) and right-hand-man Marcus (Tony Cox) reunite in the film’s long-awaited sequel. The first trailer finds that disgruntled duo talking business at a diner, as Marcus teases a new job with a potential windfall of “millions.” Fittingly, Soke fires back with a racist one-liner.
Overall, the clip is light on plot and heavy on button-pushing quips — like Soke, dressed in his familiar Santa attire, spouting profanity at passerby (“Ho, ho, merry Christmas. Feed the starving children. Come on, you fucking dickheads”). The trailer, soundtracked by Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle,” also features glimpses of the secondary cast — including new romantic interest Diane (Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks), a grown-up Thurman (Brett Kelly) and Kathy Bates as Soke’s equally foul-mouthed mom, Sunny.
In one of the trailer’s best moments, Soke greets his mother with a punch to the jaw, earning the wisecrack response, “You still hit like your fuckin’ father.”
Bad Santa 2 hits theaters November 23th, 2016 via Broad Green Pictures. The film was directed by Mark Waters (Mean Girls) and written by Shauna Cross (Whip It), Doug Ellin (Entourage), John Phillips (Dirty Grandpa) and Johnny Rosenthal.
In an interview with Slash Film, Thornton said his outlandish character has “probably gotten a little more world-weary” since the original Bad Santa. However, he clarified that the writers have taken the character to some deeper places.
“I think we pushed it even a little further this time, not only in the sort of dark humor but also in the emotion,” he said. “This one has more of a heart, more of a story you would say, but it also went a little further with some of the nasty stuff.”