It might not be Christmas just yet - although you wouldn't know it by the weather - however it might be time to get into the festive spirit already.

Bad Santa, which featured on our Top 10 Christmas Movies list, has been due a sequel for quite some time. Abortive attempts took place shortly after the release of the first one, but now it seems it's finally back on.

Billy Bob Thorton is due to reprise his role as Willy, the ill-tempered shopping mall Santa who's out only for himself.

Doug Ellin, who you'll know from Entourage, has signed on to write and direct the sequel and the film, per his own words, is expected to be well within "the R-rated zone" and will have a similarly bleak and dark tone to the original.

Ellin believes the film will begin shooting this Autumn and a Christmas 2016 has been tentatively scheduled.

So, what can we expect, especially given the tumultuous production of the first one?

Ellin's likely to be given a certain amount of free reign - not something that original director Terry Zwigoff had.

It'd also make sense to bring back the characters that made the original so inventive and funny.

In short, we're hoping for something that's as good as the original.

Need a reminder how could the original was? Take a look at this.

 

Via Empire