Trivia / Bad Santa

• Awesome, Dear Boy: Terry Zwigoff immediately wanted to direct this film after he read the line "Sweet Jews for Jesus!" in the script.
• Black Sheep Hit: This was Terry Zwigoff's only financially successful move. The rest of his filmography consists of low-key and very uncommercial acclaimed flops and while this film's script is in step with his usual brand of Black Comedy, it's also the one which most closely resembles a normal studio comedy.
• Channel Hop:
  • While it was produced by Miramax when it was subsidiary of Disney, the film is now owned by Paramount after they bought 49% of Miramax.
  • The film was pitched to Universal, who turned it down on the grounds that it was (in the studio heads words): "the most foul, disgusting, misogynistic, anti-Christmas, anti-children thing we could imagine", and Miramax picked it up for those exact same reasons.
• Completely Different Title: The Czech title for this film translates to Santa is a Pervert.
• Creator's Favorite: According to Billy Bob Thornton's Autobiography, The Billy Bob Tapes, not only is this one of his favorite roles, it's one of three things in his life that he would gladly relive if he had the chance to do it again. ^note  The other two being in The Alamo (2004) and his time on the Arkansas Highway Patrol in 1979.
• Deleted Role: Sarah Silverman appeared as a Santa trainer in a Deleted Scene. She's still shown in the trailers for the film, though.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Terry Zwigoff wanted to cast Mira Sorvino (possibly as Willie's girlfriend) but could not because Harvey Weinstein blacklisted her after Sorvino rejected Weinstein's sexual advances.
  • According to the book Down and Dirty Pictures, Bob Weinstein kicked Zwigoff off the film and hired a new director to reshoot the ending, though Zwigoff was eventually re-hired. One of The Coen Brothers bluntly said that this was the main reason they'd avoided Miramax for most of their career. A Directors Cut was later released that's closer to Zwigoff's vision.
• Fake American: Canadian Brett Kelly as Thurman.
• Hey, It's That Place!: The parking lot behind the department store, which is featured in many scenes, is the same parking lot where Louis shoots Melanie in Jackie Brown.
• In Memoriam: The film is dedicated to John Ritter. This wound up being the last movie he ever did before he collapsed and died on the set for 8 Simple Rules.
• Posthumous Credit: John Ritter, who played the mall manager, died before this film was released.
• Sequel Gap: The sequel was released 13 years after the original.
• Throw It In!: Tony Cox ad-libbed the "You probably shouldn't be digging in your ass" line. Terry Zwigoff found the line so funny that he admitted to repeatedly cracking up on set and even waking up in the middle of the night laughing.
• Uncredited Role:
  • While The Coen Brothers were credited as Executive Producers, they also re-wrote the screenplay, specifically the dialogue; but because Writers Guild of America requires you to write a certain percentage of the script, the brothers had to go un-credited.
  • Todd Phillips was hired to shoot new scenes in an uncredited role, such as when Willie teaches the Kid how to fight and the scenes with the advent calendar.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Bill Murray was the original choice for the lead, but he had to decline due to scheduling conflicts with Lost in Translation. Jack Nicholson was interested, but he was busy with Something's Gotta Give. Larry David, Robert De Niro and Denis Leary were also considered.
  • Terry Zwigoff revealed in a now deleted tweet that he was forbidden from casting Mira Sorvino, due to executive producer Harvey Weinstein blacklisting her after she turned down his sexual advances.
  • The Coen Brothers initially tailored roles for specific actors, such as James Gandolfini as Willie (since they had worked with him on The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)), Danny Woodburn as Marcus and Angus T. Jones as Thurman.

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