One of the more bizarre upcoming movie releases would be Cocaine Bear, a horror-comedy that imagines a bear turning violently aggressive after consuming large amounts of cocaine. Directed by Elizabeth Banks, the film is inspired by the real-life story of an American black bear that was found dead of an overdose in 1985 after a drug smuggler tossed a large duffel bag filled with cocaine from an airplane into the Georgia wilderness. The obvious difference is that the real bear died while the movie version racks up a huge body count in its quest to find more drugs to ingest.
In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Banks speaks about the unique film. She says she sees the movie as retribution for the real-life bear, who was actually an innocent victim of the American "War on Drugs." Unfortunately, we can't save that bear, but Banks feels that reimagining the events of what happened with the animal lashing out serves as a "revenge story" for him, bringing about some form of justice. From the interview:
"I felt a lot of sympathy for the bear. Like, wow, this bear — which, in real life, ended up dead after eating all this coke — ended up being sort of collateral damage in this War on Drugs. And I just thought, Well, then this movie can be a revenge story for the bear. And it just gave me a point of view and a purpose for making it. Like, there's a real message here: We should not f--- with nature, nature will win."
Cocaine Bear's Cokey Is More Vicious Than The Revenant's Bear
Banks also reveals that the movie's bear is nicknamed Cokey, easy enough to remember given that it rhymes with the name of another famous bear who serves as a mascot for preventing forest fires. Fueled by copious amounts of coke, Cokey is a bear that's much more dangerous than the softie we saw in The Revenant, according to Banks.
"Cokey outmatches The Revenant bear every time out. No matter who you are in life, even if you're Henry Hill [Ray Liotta's character in Goodfellas], if you meet a bear that's high on cocaine, you are the underdog in that situation. And that's what provided a lot of the comedic engine, you know? These are just people who aren't prepared or have the capacity to deal with a bear who's high on coke."
It's no coincidence that Banks mentioned a character played by Ray Liotta, as the late actor appears in the movie in one of his final roles. The film also stars Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery-Jennings, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., and Kristofer Hivju.
Cocaine Bear will be released on Feb. 24, 2023. You can watch the official trailer below.