Back in 1985, drug smuggler Andrew C. Thornton II dropped a duffel bag of cocaine out of the airplane he was piloting to ease the aircraft’s load. Not long after, he jumped from the plane and fell to his death following a parachute malfunction. And the duffel bag? It was found by a 175-pound black bear, who then proceeded to eat the cocaine and was found dead in Northern Georgia three months later. Fast forward to 2019, and we have the aptly named “Cocaine Bear,” the latest feature by actress and director Elizabeth Banks.
Given how far-fetched the story is, it’s baffling that it has taken nearly forty years for an adaptation to pop up. But the good news is that after its time in the hands of Hollywood, the story has only grown quirkier and crazier, with Banks and writer Jimmy Warden having applied considerable artistic license to the tale, the synopsis of which now reads:
Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild thriller finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists, and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow … and blood.
The film stars Keri Russell (“The Americans”), actor and rapper O’Shea Jackson Jr. (aka OMG) (“Straight Outta Compton”), and “Solo” frontman Alden Ehrenreich. There are supporting roles for Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell Pritchett from “Modern Family”), Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane in “Game of Thrones”), Brooklynn Prince (“The Florida Project”), Christian Convery (“Sweet Tooth”), and Margo Martindale (“Justified”).
“Cocaine Bear” also features one of the last performances by Hollywood legend Ray Liotta, who died at age 67 early this year during the filming of “Dangerous Waters.”
John Guleserian shot the film (“About Time”; “Candyman (2021)”) and the movie was produced by Banks, Max Handelman, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Aditya Sood, and Brian Duffield.
“Cocaine Bear” is scheduled to be released in the United States on February 24, 2023, by Universal Pictures. Watch the trailer here.
