It looks like we’ve got another DVD double dip/cash grab situation on our hands here, with a newly announced director’s cut of the holiday classic Bad Santa starring Billy Bob Thornton on the way. You may recall that when the movie was originally released on DVD a couple years ago, it was dubbed Badder Santa and was released as an Unrated Edition with 5 minutes of extra footage added in. Well now director Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Ghost World, Art School Confidential) has gone back and re-edited the movie to his own liking, although we haven’t been given any specifics on what he has changed, added or removed. He also recorded an audio commentary track with editor Robert Hoffman, but other than that the special features look the same as the previous release which had deleted scenes, a gag reel and behind the scenes featurette. Sounds like it’s going to be a tough sell for anyone who already owns the previous release. Although, the more I think about it, the more I doubt these re-releases are an attempt to get people to buy the same thing twice. It seems like studios are just releasing slightly different cuts as an excuse to get the movie visible on store shelves again for a few more weeks and hopefully sell some copies to the casual shopper. Look for Bad Santa: Director’s Cut on October 10th at an SRP of $19.99 US.

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