Doug Ellin of Entourage fame has turned in his script for the move-version of the HBO comedy and, while he waits to find out when he’ll start directing it, he’s signed on to rewrite and possibly direct Bad Santa 2.  The original 2003 dark comedy starred Billy Bob Thornton in the title role, alongside the late Bernie Mac and John Ritter.  Thornton would like to start on the sequel in the fall, after he wraps production on London Fields.  As Deadline reports, Ellin will rewrite the Johnny Rosenthal script for Bad Santa 2 and it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll also direct.

Director Steve Pink is in talks with Dimension Films to rewrite and direct Bad Santa 2.  The sequel to the 2003 film will follow conman Willie in his latest underhanded schemes.  Bad Santa 2 is currently scheduled for a 2013 release, with Billy Bob Thornton expected to reprise the role of Willie.  According to Deadline, the previous draft of the film script was penned by Johnny Rosenthal, whose project Iron Jack is stuck in production limbo.

This will be the first big screen project for Pink since directing Hot Tub Time Machine in 2010.  He has been keeping busy in TV land, directing episodes for such comedy series as Happy Endings, The Office, and The New Girl, among others.

While not many films necessarily warrant a sequel, you’d be hard pressed to find someone not excited for a follow-up to 2003’s Bad Santa. The dark comedy did pretty great business at the box office and grew an even larger fanbase when it hit DVD. A sequel to the pic has been rumored for a while now, but things picked up last summer when Billy Bob Thornton signed on to reprise his role as the worst Santa Claus ever. Last summer we learned that Dimension Films had commissioned two different scripts for the sequel, separately by Johnny Rosenthal and John Phillips. Now it appears the studio has picked the winning script, as Thornton recently revealed that they’re on track to shoot the sequel this fall. Hit the jump for more.

The long-awaited sequel to 2003’s fantastically black comedy Bad Santa is getting some serious movement. Star Billy Bob Thornton first told Steve about the project last year, and this past March the actor entered talks to return for a second go-around. Now comes the news that Dimension Films, which is producing the follow-up, has commissioned two writers to pen two different scripts for Bad Santa 2. The studio apparently plans to choose between the screenplays once they’re finished, and may even use the sidelined one for Bad Santa 3. Hit the jump for more.

Back in November, Billy Bob Thornton told Steve that people always want to talk to him about how much they love Bad Santa and that there’s been talk of a sequel.  Of course, sequel talk is cheap, but then in December we reported that The Weinstein Company was actively developing sequels on Miramax hits Shakespeare in Love, Rounders, and yes, Bad Santa.

Today, Thornton was on a panel at SXSW for his Willie Nelson documentary The King of Luck and said he was in negotiations to reprise his foul-mouthed, safe-cracking department store Santa in Bad Santa 2.  The Wrap has now confirmed with the Weinstein Company that Thornton is in talks to star.  A spokesman for TWC tells The Wrap, “”We feel that it’s a Christmas perennial for the R-rated crowd.  Everyone loves the character and Billy Bob’s excited to be in talks with us.”   It’s currently unknown who will write and direct the sequel to the 2003 sleeper hit, but getting Thornton back on board is a great first step.

The other day I posted part of my video interview with Billy Bob Thornton for Faster.  However, with the film opening tomorrow, it’s time for the full sit down.

During the brief  interview, Thornton talked about why he decided to take on the project (he gives a really honest answer), did he just work as an actor or did he help out with any of the writing, and we talked about his next writing-directing project Jayne Mansfield’s Car.  However, the best part of the interview was when he told me there’s been talk of doing a Bad Santa sequel (please let this happen)!  Hit the jump to check it out:

While the last decade has seen Billy Bob Thornton only acting in front of the camera, it seems that he’s planning a return to the director’s chair.  I say this because at this weekend’s junket for Faster, Thornton told me that he’s writing a script called Jayne Mansfield’s Car with his old writing partner Tom Epperson and he hopes to get it made this spring.  After the cameras stopped rolling, I asked if he’d be directing the project.  He said yes.  

On top of that, if you’re a fan of Bad Santa, Thornton told me, “there’s been talk of making a sequel to it, which I actually would like to do.”

More after the jump: