Billy Bob Thorton thrilled comedy fans -- and enraged Christmas enthusiasts -- with his depiction of an evil Santa Claus in the 2004 release of "Bad Santa". And he wants to do it again.

Thornton recently spoke to IGN on the subject and hinted that the idea has been mentioned a few times, though nothing has ever fallen into place. He says, “I can say they're interested because it has been brought to my attention. But I don't know where exactly things stand with it. Right now I think it's still just nothing more than an idea.”

In the event a concrete opportunity should arise to reprise the role of Willie, the shopping-mall Santa with a shop-lifting tendency, Thornton says, "I'd probably do it. It was such a ball making the first film, I'd be more than happy to bring him back. The guy's just a really fun character to play."

Thornton says he's also interested in seeing where a screenwriter might take a sequel. However, he does have one firm preference: Willie must remain a bad guy.

"At the end of the first movie, we're both in jail, so the story could really go anywhere from there. But for my character, I suspect there might be a temptation to make him more of a softy or make him more of a likeable guy. He's really just a bad guy, and if you mess with that, you're pulling the essence out of the guy. He's just bad. He'd still have to be bad."