"Bad Santa" fans who have been waiting over a decade for a sequel will finally get their Christmas wish next year: Billy Bob Thornton has been confirmed to reprise his role for "Bad Santa 2."

The long-awaited follow-up to the foul-mouthed 2003 dark comedy has officially gotten the green light, and will once again feature Thornton as Willie, a curmudgeonly conman and part-time mall Santa who schemes to rob department stores on Christmas Eve along with his elf sidekick (Tony Cox). The duo is thwarted thanks to a lonesome kid (Brett Kelly) who takes an interest in Willie, and a suspicious mall cop (Bernie Mac); Lauren Graham also co-stars as a bartender with a Santa fetish.

Deadline reports that the sequel has been in the works since 2012, and director Steve Pink was attached to helm at that time. It's not clear yet if Pink is still in the cards, or if someone else will step in to direct this new flick, which was written by Doug Ellin, Shauna Cross, John Phillips, and Johnny Rosenthal. Also no word yet on an official synopsis.

Production is expected to get underway in Montreal in January 2016, and "Bad Santa 2" is due in theaters sometime during the 2016 holiday season.

[via: Deadline]