Directed by Elizabeth Banks cocaine bear is an upcoming thriller that follows a black bear’s murderous rampage through a small Georgian town after eating a duffel bag full of cocaine. Fascinated already? Wait until you find out the real story that served as inspiration.
Slated to hit theaters in February 2023, the film’s cast includes Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, as well as Ray Liotta in one of his final films before his death in May 2022.
As if the plot of a coked-up bear going onto a bloody bend couldn’t sound more compelling, here’s everything we know about where the idea originally came from:
IS COCAINE BEAR BASED ON A TRUE STORY?
Yes, cocaine bear is inspired by a true story. In December 1985 was a 175-pound black bear found dead after ingesting at least three to four grams of cocaine dropped from a plane piloted by a convicted drug smuggler who eventually died due to a malfunctioning parachute.
While the real bear didn’t rampage violently in his final days, as the film’s plot would suggest, he was found dead next to an empty duffel bag that police believe once contained the cocaine. Apart from that, 40 packages or The drug is worth $20 millionwere torn open and found scattered in the nearby region.
So, yes, there was a bear who got high on cocaine after a seemingly failed drug smuggling operation. But no, we’re not exactly sure what this tall bear was doing while under the influence — especially since his body wasn’t found until four weeks after the overdose.
Instead, we just have to see what Hollywood invented and when cocaine bear Releases in theaters February 24th.