Bad Santa

"He doesn't care if you're naughty or nice."

2003 1h 32m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 2,474

DramaComedyCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

You'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.

“He doesn't care if you're naughty or nice.”

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Cast

Billy Bob Thornton
Willie
Tony Cox
Marcus
Lauren Graham
Sue
Brett Kelly
The Kid
Lauren Tom
Lois
John Ritter
Bob Chipeska
Bernie Mac
Gin
Ajay Naidu
Hindustani Troublemaker

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Terry Zwigoff
Writers: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Bad Santa Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

212+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Terry Zwigoff, shot by Jamie Anderson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Kitay. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Hoffman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Terry Zwigoff directs. Jamie Anderson behind the camera. David Kitay scores. Robert Hoffman cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Germany. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.3× over at the box office.
2Released 23 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.
4Part of the "Bad Santa Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5212+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Terry Zwigoff, shot by Jamie Anderson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by David Kitay. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Robert Hoffman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox and Lauren Graham carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "He doesn't care if you're naughty or nice.".
11IMDB entry: tt0307987 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 10 themes, including "elves", "holiday", "department store", "christmas party".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jamie Anderson
Original score: David Kitay
Editing: Robert Hoffman
Production design: Sharon Seymour
Makeup / hair: Carrie Angland
Sound: Matthew Iadarola
Stunt coordinator: Mickey Giacomazzi
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $23,000,000
Box office: $76,500,000
Return: 333% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Bad Santa (2003)

Part of

Bad Santa Collection

A comedy film series that follows a conman, Willie T. Soke and his partner, Marcus Skidmore as they pose as Santa and his Little Helper Elf in order to commit robberies on Christmas Eve.