Christina Hendricks Joins BAD SANTA 2

Christina Hendricks is certainly building an interesting post-Mad Men resume. On the TV side, she's appeared in the Comedy Central series Another Period (I find it kind of fascinating that both she and Mad Men co-star January Jones would quickly join comedies, with Jones starring in The Last Man on Earth), on Rick and Morty. On the film side, she's completed work on both Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon and the Ice Cube/Charlie Day comedy Fist Fight, and now she's adding another comedy to the mix. Deadline reports that Hendricks has joined the cast of Bad Santa 2.

Billy Bob Thornton is returning to reprise his role as drunken mall Santa Willie Soke, and when we last checked in on the project, we heard that both Tony Cox (Willie's partner Marcus) and Brett Kelly (The Kid) were on board as well. Lauren Graham, who played the female lead in the first film, wasn't mentioned in the casting report, and producers were searching for a female lead. It looks like Hendricks will be replacing her in that capacity, though she'll be playing a brand new character. Variety says:

Plot details are vague, but Hendricks will play an Ivy League-educated, upper-class woman who runs a charity that is targeted by Thornton’s mall Santa and his foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails mother. Hendricks will also play Thornton’s love interest.

Shooting begins next week, and the intention is for the movie to be in theaters in time for this year's holiday season. What do you think about the newest addition to the Bad Santa universe?