A release date has been officially set for the Universal project Cocaine Bear, based on a bizarre 1985 true story.
No need for fancy metaphorical or symbolic titles here. Cocaine Bear, directed by Elizabeth Banks and produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, looks set to be a film about a bear on cocaine.
The project wrapped shooting last October in Ireland and a fun ensemble for the film was announced prior to that, including Keri Russell from The Americans, Ray Liotta, and Alden Ehrenreich who previously worked with Lord and Miller on Solo: A Star Wars Story. O’Shea Jackson from Straight Outta Compton and Jesse Tyler Ferguson of Modern Family will also appear.
The film, which releases in February of next year ‘is based on a true story, where, ‘as reported in 1985 by The New York Times, … a 175-pound black bear consumed the contents of a duffle bag filled with more than 70 pounds of cocaine that was dropped from an airplane by a local drug smuggler, Andrew Thornton. The bear was later found dead of an apparent drug overdose.’
Some outlets are reporting that the events of the film may focus less on the tragedy of a bear dying from an accidental overdose and more on the outlandish nature of a wild animal on a drug binge. The Hollywood Reporter describes the plot as following ‘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 the white powder and goes on a coke-fuelled rampage seeking more blow — and blood.’
Whichever direction the movie’s tone veers towards, we’re looking forwards to it. Banks’ previous directing credits are Pitch Perfect 2 and the Charlie’s Angels remake. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more.
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