Bad Santa Trivia
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46 free Bad Santa trivia questions with answers. Bad Santa is the anti-Christmas movie that became a Christmas tradition anyway: Billy Bob Thornton as a drunk, safe-cracking mall Santa, Tony Cox as his elf partner and Brett Kelly as the kid who refuses to stop believing in him. This quiz digs into the 2003 original and the 2016 sequel, from the plot and the cast to the stories behind the camera. Expect questions on Willie, Marcus and Thurman, Lauren Graham's bartender, Bernie Mac's security chief and John Ritter's final live-action role, plus the Coen brothers' involvement, the studio that turned the script down, where the mall scenes were really shot, the Badder Santa and director's cuts, the box office and reviews, and Bad Santa 2 with Kathy Bates and Christina Hendricks. It suits holiday movie nights and anyone who prefers their Christmas films a little rude. Every answer is checked against Wikipedia's articles on the films and their cast, and the source line appears under each question. The film is R-rated, but the questions themselves are written clean, so the quiz works for a mixed crowd.
30 of 46 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who plays Willie T. Soke, the drunken thief in the title role?
Billy Bob Thornton
Several bigger names were considered for the part before it went to Thornton, who won a Golden Globe nomination for it.
Q 02In Bad Santa, which actor plays Marcus Skidmore, the brains of the safe-cracking duo?
Tony Cox
Tony Cox had earlier played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi and the Preacher in Beetlejuice.
Q 03Who plays Thurman Merman, the gullible boy who believes Willie is really Santa?
Brett Kelly
Brett Kelly, a Canadian child actor, played Thurman Merman and returned to the role as an adult in Bad Santa 2 (2016).
Q 04While Willie works as a department-store Santa, what costume role does Marcus take for the heists?
An elf
An elf: Marcus works as Willie's elf, steering children to Santa by day and cracking the mall safe with him on Christmas Eve.
Q 05In which city is the mall where Willie and Marcus take their jobs?
Phoenix
Phoenix: after the Milwaukee job, Marcus lines up a mall in Phoenix, Arizona, for the next Christmas and summons Willie back to work.
Q 06What is the name of the fictional shopping centre where most of the film takes place?
Saguaro Square Mall
The mall scenes were shot in a vacant wing of a real Southern California shopping centre.
Q 07Who plays Sue, the bartender who takes a shine to Willie?
Lauren Graham
Graham was in the middle of her run on Gilmore Girls when the film came out.
Q 08Who plays Bob Chipeska, the prudish mall manager?
John Ritter
John Ritter died before the film reached theatres, and it was dedicated to his memory.
Q 09Which comedian plays Gin Slagel, the mall's security chief?
Bernie Mac
Bernie Mac was starring in his own Fox sitcom, The Bernie Mac Show, when he took the part.
Q 10Who directed the film?
Terry Zwigoff
Terry Zwigoff directed it, his fourth feature after the documentaries Louie Bluie and Crumb and the fiction film Ghost World.
Q 11Which writing duo wrote the screenplay?
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who met at Pratt Institute, wrote Bad Santa after the 2001 family comedy Cats & Dogs.
Q 12The screenwriting duo later directed which 2011 romantic comedy starring Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling?
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Their directing debut had been I Love You Phillip Morris in 2009.
Q 13Which filmmaking siblings developed the concept and are credited as executive producers?
Joel and Ethan Coen
They came up with the story of an alcoholic mall Santa before hiring writers to flesh it out.
Q 21Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide?
$76.5 million
$76.5 million: Bad Santa took about $60 million in North America and a further $16 million abroad.
Q 22What rating out of four did critic Roger Ebert give the film?
3½ stars
3½ stars: Roger Ebert gave it three and a half of four, calling it a demented, twisted, unreasonably funny work of comic kamikaze style.
Q 23What happens to Marcus after the Christmas Eve heist?
He is arrested and jailed
He is arrested and jailed: the police catch Marcus and Lois at the mall, and Willie's closing letter says the pair are going to prison.
Q 14Which studio released Bad Santa in North American cinemas?
Dimension Films
Dimension Films, the genre label Bob Weinstein ran inside Miramax, distributed Bad Santa in North America; Dimension also released the Scream series.
Q 15Who plays Lois, Marcus's wife, in Bad Santa?
Lauren Tom
Lauren Tom, the voice of Amy Wong in Futurama, plays Lois, Marcus's wife, who takes part in the Christmas Eve robbery.
Q 16Thurman's grandmother keeps offering to fix what for Willie?
Sandwiches
Sandwiches: Thurman's dozing grandmother rouses herself only to announce 'I'll fix sandwiches', the one line she repeats through the film.
Q 17The mall scenes were filmed in a vacant wing of which real Southern California shopping centre?
Del Amo Fashion Center
The wing has since been demolished and replaced by an open-air lifestyle centre.
Q 18The mall's fictional anchor store, Chamberlain's, was a former branch of which real retailer?
Montgomery Ward
The store and the entire wing were vacant at the time of filming.
Q 19The film opened in North America on November 26 of which year?
2003
2003: Bad Santa opened on 26 November 2003, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and took just over $60 million in North America.
Q 20What was the film's production budget?
$23 million
$23 million: Bad Santa was made for $23 million and earned back more than three times that at the worldwide box office.
Q 24Under what title was the unrated version released on DVD and Blu-ray?
Bad(der) Santa
Bad(der) Santa: the unrated cut restored raunchier material for its 2004 DVD release and runs longer than the theatrical version.
Q 25The director's cut is how many minutes shorter than the theatrical version?
3
It also carries an audio commentary with the director and the film's editor.
Q 26The lead actor was nominated for a Golden Globe for the role but lost to whom?
Bill Murray
The winner took the prize for Lost in Translation; the other nominees were Depp, Black and Nicholson.
Q 27What present does Willie grab for Thurman during the Christmas Eve heist?
A pink stuffed elephant
A pink stuffed elephant is what Thurman wants; Willie leads police on a chase to the boy's house just to deliver it, and is shot on the porch.
Q 28Thurman says his father is out exploring the mountains. Where is he really?
In jail for embezzlement
Willie helps himself to the absent father's safe and his BMW.
Q 29Which actress plays Opal in both the original film and its sequel?
Octavia Spencer
Octavia Spencer plays Opal in a bit part, years before her Oscar for The Help (2011), and reprises the role in Bad Santa 2.
Q 30In the epilogue, Willie says the police have hired him in what role?
Sensitivity counselor
Sensitivity counselor: embarrassed at shooting an unarmed Santa in front of children, the police clear Willie and give him a job counselling officers on sensitivity.