Film · TMDB
6.6You'd better watch out - Willie T. Soke is coming to town, and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Willie's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wisecracking store detective, a sexy bartender, and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus.
Released: 2003-11-2692 minDir: Terry ZwigoffDrama, Comedy, Crime
Cast
- Billy Bob Thornton as Willie
- Tony Cox as Marcus
- Lauren Graham as Sue
- Brett Kelly as The Kid
- Lauren Tom as Lois
- John Ritter as Bob Chipeska
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Key facts
- Directed by
- Terry Zwigoff
- Written by
- Glenn Ficarra John Requa
- Story by
- Ethan and Joel Coen (uncredited)
- Produced by
- John Cameron Sarah Aubrey Bob Weinstein
- Starring
- Billy Bob Thornton Tony Cox Lauren Graham Brett Kelly Lauren Tom John Ritter Bernie Mac
- Cinematography
- Jamie Anderson
- Edited by
- Robert Hoffman
- Music by
- David Kitay
- Production companies
- Dimension Films Triptych Pictures
- Distributed by
- Miramax Films (Worldwide) Columbia Pictures (though Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International ; select international territories)
- Release date
- November 26, 2003 ( 2003-11-26 )
- Running time
- 92 minutes
Key dates
- Published
- 18 November 2004
via Wikidata · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- film
- Genre
- crime film
- Country of origin
- United States
- Original language
- English language
- Followed by
- Bad Santa 2
- Main subject
- alcoholism
- Director
- Terry Zwigoff
- Screenwriter
- John Requa
- Composer
- David Kitay
- Producer
- Coen brothers
Article
Bad Santa is a 2003 American Christmas black comedy crime film directed by Terry Zwigoff, written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and starring Billy Bob Thornton in the title role, with a supporting cast of Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly, Lauren Tom, John Ritter, and Bernie Mac. It was Ritter's last live-action film appearance before his death on September 11, 2003. The film was dedicated to his memory. The Coen brothers are credited as executive producers. The film was released in North America on November 26, 2003, and was screened out of competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It received positive reviews and was a commercial success.
An unrated version was released on DVD on March 5, 2004, and on Blu-ray on November 20, 2007, as Bad(der) Santa. A director's cut DVD was released in November 2006; it features Zwigoff's cut of the film (including an audio commentary with him and the film's editor), which is three minutes shorter than the theatrical cut and ten minutes shorter than the unrated version, the content removed being largely from Willie's time in Miami. A sequel, Bad Santa 2, was released on November 23, 2016, and failed to match the critical and commercial success of the original.