HALIFAX - It takes only minutes into the new Trailer Park Boys movie to see that the drug-addled gang of louts is headed right back to their harebrained, n'er-do-well ways -- and back to a filmmaking formula they hope will be as successful as their last celluloid venture.

The opening moments of "Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day" show the usual cast of characters again being released from prison with promises they will reform their derelict ways and set themselves on the road to redemption, or at least stay out of the big house for awhile.

But seconds after tasting freedom, they're stealing a corrections van and holding up a liquor store -- with cardboard boxes and welding masks as disguises -- to secure some "startup" money for their next business venture.

It is the same framework that has spawned a devoted following across Canada and fed the series' wacky story lines for seven seasons on TV's Showcase.

Director Mike Clattenburg has described the tone of the film as a little darker than the TV series, but fans of the show won't be disappointed as it aptly captures the antics they've likely come to expect from the characters.

There is Julian, the brawny schemer who is never without a rum-and-coke in his clutches; Ricky, his profane, overweight sidekick who can't utter a sentence not laced with F-bombs; and Bubbles, the googlie-eyed heart and soul of the fictional Sunnyvale trailer park whose sole mission seems to be protecting his collection of kitties.

The movie picks up with the boys heading back to Sunnyvale, only to find it abandoned and battered after their archrival, park superintendent Jim Lahey, moved on to manage a pristine, orderly trailer home development.

Lahey, played by John Dunsworth, has cleaned up his act, gotten off the drink, taken to jogging and settled down with his shirtless, pot-bellied lover, Randy.

But as soon as the boys return, Lahey begins slipping into his old booze-soaked ways and is soon wandering around in a robe and tighty whities, with a bottle in tow.

"You don't understand," the character says in a desperate fit that references the movie's title. "The liquor's calling the shots now."

The tale, complete with its characteristic profanity and steady stream of liquor, ends with the trio again seeing their latest harebrained scheme to make money foiled with dramatic effect.

And again, they find themselves back in the slammer, surely cooking up some more asinine plots to strike it rich and climb out of their economic hole.

"'Survivor: Sunnyvale' would be kind of a good show," Bubbles, played by Mike Smith, said in his trademark Coke-bottle glasses before the movie premiered in Halifax last week.

"Or maybe a travel show. You know, the three of us travelling around the world, checking out resorts, grading their booze and dope ... and seeing how the kitty situation is."

"Countdown to Liquor Day" could be the last offering from the Gemini Award-winning cast that includes actors Smith, John Paul Tremblay and Robb Wells.

The concept for the TV show took shape in 1999 when Clattenburg released the first Trailer Park Boys' movie and what became a tried and true formula for the series in 2001.

The mockumentary-style series wrapped up its seven-year run in 2008 and spawned a self-titled movie in 2006 that became the No. 11 film in North America when it opened. It made $1.3 million over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Lucy DeCouture, who plays Lucy in the movie and on the show, said this latest film got to the heart of what the Trailer Park Boys' was all about.

"You've gotta have your peeps around you," she said while walking the red carpet for the premiere. "If you don't have people around you that you love, then you lose. Flush it down the shitter."