''Cocaine Bear'' is an upcoming American

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed and co-produced by

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perfe ...

from a screenplay by Jimmy Warden. It is inspired by the true story of the "

Cocaine Bear ''Cocaine Bear'' is an upcoming American black comedy thriller film directed and co-produced by Elizabeth Banks from a screenplay by Jimmy Warden. It is inspired by the true story of the "Cocaine Bear", an American black bear who ingested a d ...

", an

American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bear ...

who ingested a duffel bag full of

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

in 1985. The film features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

that includes

Keri Russell Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She portrayed the titular character on the drama series ''Felicity (TV series), Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award, and Elizabeth Jennings (The Americans), ...

, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery-Jennings,

Alden Ehrenreich Alden Caleb Ehrenreich (; born November 22, 1989) is an American actor. He began his career by appearing in '' Supernatural'' (2005), and Francis Ford Coppola's films ''Tetro'' (2009) and ''Twixt'' (2011). Following supporting roles in the 2013 ...

Jesse Tyler Ferguson Jesse Tyler Ferguson (born October 22, 1975) is an American actor. From 2009 to 2020, he portrayed Mitchell Pritchett on the sitcom ''Modern Family'', for which he earned five consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding ...

Brooklynn Prince Brooklynn Prince (born May 4, 2010) is an American child actress widely known for her critically acclaimed role in the 2017 film ''The Florida Project'', for which she won the Critics Choice Movie Award for Best Young Performer. She has since star ...

, Isiah Whitlock Jr.,

Kristofer Hivju Kristofer Hivju (; born 7 December 1978) is a Norwegian actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Tormund Giantsbane in the HBO fantasy series ''Game of Thrones'' and Connor Rhodes in ''The Fate of the Furious''. Early life Hivju was b ...

Hannah Hoekstra Hannah Hoekstra (born August 2, 1987) is a Dutch actress. Career In 2010, Hoekstra graduated from the Amsterdam Theatre Academy, where she studied from 2006. During training she participated in the play ''Underground'' by director Johan Simons. ...

, Aaron Holliday,

Margo Martindale Margo Martindale (born July 18, 1951) is an American character actress who has appeared on television, film, and stage. In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for her recurring role as Mags Bennett on '' J ...

, and

Ray Liotta Raymond Allen Liotta (; December 18, 1954 – May 26, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Shoeless Joe Jackson in ''Field of Dreams'' (1989) and Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese's ''Goodfellas'' (1990). He was a Primeti ...

in one of his final performances before his death. ''Cocaine Bear'' is scheduled to be released in the United States on February 24, 2023, by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Premise

After ingesting a duffel bag full of cocaine, an

goes on a murderous rampage in a small

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

town where a group of locals and tourists must join forces in order to survive the attack.

Cast

as Colette Matthews * O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Howard * Christian Convery-Jennings as Henry *

as Marty *

as Colette's daughter * Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Bob *

* Aaron Holliday as Stache *

Matthew Rhys Matthew Rhys Evans ( ; born 8 November 1974) is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Kevin Walker in '' Brothers & Sisters'' (2006–2011) and Philip Jennings in ''The Americans'' (2013–2018), for which he received two Golden Globe Awar ...

as Andrew C. Thornton II * Scott Seiss * Kahyun Kim as Beth * Shane Connellan as Ray

Inspiration

The film is inspired by the real story of a American black bear that died after ingesting a duffel bag full of cocaine in December 1985. The cocaine had been dropped out of an airplane piloted by Andrew C. Thornton II, a former narcotics officer and convicted drug smuggler, because his plane was carrying too heavy a load. Thornton then jumped out of the plane with a faulty parachute and died. The bear was found three months later in the north of the state of

alongside 40 opened plastic containers of cocaine. The bear is currently on display at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, US, which named the creature "

" in 2015.

Production

In December 2019, it was announced that

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Philip Lord (born 12 July 1975) and Christopher Miller (born 23 September 1975) are an American filmmaking duo. After a meeting at Dartmouth College, they are known for creating the adult animated sitcom ''Clone High'' (2002–2003), directing an ...

were producing an untitled horror comedy project inspired by the true story, and based on a spec script written by Jimmy Warden. The producers approached

Radio Silence In telecommunications, radio silence or Emissions Control (EMCON) is a status in which all fixed or mobile radio stations in an area are asked to stop transmitting for safety or security reasons. The term "radio station" may include anything cap ...

collectives

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (born February 19, 1978) is an American director, writer, actor, and musician. He is a founding member of the punk band Link 80 and co-creator of the filmmaking collectives Chad, Matt & Rob and Radio Silence. He is best know ...

and

Tyler Gillett Tyler Gillett is an American film director, cinematographer, writer, and producer. A co-creator of the filmmaking collective Radio Silence, Gillett co-directed, with Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, the horror films '' Devil's Due'' (2014), '' Ready or No ...

to direct but both opted out of the film in favor of making the fifth ''Scream'' installment. On March 9, 2021,

announced that the film was in development. It was also confirmed that the film would instead be directed by

, and produced by Banks and

Max Handelman Max Handelman (born May 3, 1973) is an American sportswriter, producer, and blogger. He co-wrote the book ''Why Fantasy Football Matters: (And Our Lives Do Not)'' with Erik Barmack. Handelman is married to actress Elizabeth Banks. Handelman co-fo ...

for

Brownstone Productions Brownstone Productions is an American film and television production company founded by actress, director and producer Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman. It is known for producing the ''Pitch Perfect (franchise), Pitch Perfect'' franchise; ''Pitc ...

, who joined the producing team alongside Lord, Miller, Aditya Sood for Lord Miller Productions, and

Brian Duffield Brian Duffield is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He directed the 2020 dark comedy ''Spontaneous'' and films he has written include '' Love and Monsters'' (2020), '' Underwater'' (2020), and '' The Babysitter'' (2017). D ...

. The ensemble cast was revealed between July and August 2021.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

, Ireland, between August 20 and October 17, 2021.

Music

In February 2022,

Natalie Holt Natalie Ann Holt is a British composer who has worked on numerous film and television projects. She is primarily recognised for her work on several notable productions, including ''Paddington (film), Paddington'' (2014) and ''Loki (TV series), L ...

was reported to compose the film score. However,

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...

replaced her as composer in November 2022. It marks his second collaboration with Banks after ''

Pitch Perfect 2 ''Pitch Perfect 2'' is a 2015 American musical comedy film directed and produced by Elizabeth Banks (in her feature directorial debut) and written by Kay Cannon. It is a sequel to the 2012 film ''Pitch Perfect'' and the second installment in the ...

'' (2015). The film's trailer made use of the song "

White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Melle Mel, released as a 12" in 1983 on Sugar Hill Records. The song, which warns against the dangers of cocaine, addiction, and drug smuggling, is one of Mel's s ...

" by

Melle Mel Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961 in The Bronx), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel (or simply Melle Mel) () is an American hip hop recording artist who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furiou ...

Release

''Cocaine Bear'' is scheduled to be released theatrically on February 24, 2023, by

Reception

Prior to the film's release, it went viral on social media. Yasmin Tayag of ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' wrote that part of the film's popularity on social media may have been due to the appeal of man versus nature narratives or the shock value of the premise. However, she noted that the bear was also presented in a sympathetic light by the film.

Creative liberties

The film's plot differs from real life events in a number of ways. Notably, the real-life Cocaine Bear is not known to have killed anyone after consuming drugs, and it is unknown what transpired in the time leading up to its death from overdose.

References

External links

* * {{Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Upcoming films 2023 comedy films 2023 thriller films 2020s American films 2020s black comedy films 2020s comedy thriller films 2020s English-language films 2020s survival films American black comedy films American comedy thriller films American films based on actual events American survival films Brownstone Productions films Comedy films based on actual events Fictional cocaine users Films about bears Films about cocaine Films directed by Elizabeth Banks Films produced by Elizabeth Banks Films produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Films set in the 1980s Films set in 1985 Films set in Georgia (U.S. state) Films shot in County Wicklow Thriller films based on actual events Universal Pictures films Upcoming English-language films