Universal Pictures has released the first official trailer for Cocaine Bear, a new action-comedy based on the true story of a black bear who ate an incredible amount of cocaine after a drug runner’s plane crashed in 1985. In the real world, Andrew C. Thornton II was a former narcotics officer and convicted drug smuggler, who dumped a duffel bag of cocaine out of his plane because his plane was too heavy. Thornton intended to recover the bag himself, jumping out of the plane with a parachute, but in a bizarre twist of fate, the parachute was faulty, and Thornton died. Three months later, a 175-pound black bear was found dead in Georgia, alongisde 40 opened plastic containers of cocaine.
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As you can imagine, the tale of the “cocaine bear” became popular lore in the region, and the animal itself was taxidermied and is still displayed at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington, Kentucky, where you can also buy “Cokey the Bear” t-shirts, hats, and Christmas ornaments, among other things.
The movie, of course, is taking quite a few liberties, turning a sad and strange but ultimately fairly low-key situation into a bombastic thriller-comedy.
You can see the trailer below.
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.
Cocaine Bear stars Keri Russell (The Americans), Emmy winner Margo Martindale (The Americans), Emmy winner Ray Liotta (The Many Saints of Newark), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), Kahyun Kim (American Gods), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project) and newcomer Scott Seiss.
Directed by Elizabeth Banks (Charlie’s Angels, Pitch Perfect 2) from a screenplay by Jimmy Warden (The Babysitter: Killer Queen), Cocaine Bear is produced by Oscar® winners Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, The Mitchells vs. The Machines) and Aditya Sood (The Martian) for Lord Miller, by Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman (Pitch Perfect franchise) for Brownstone Productions, and by Brian Duffield (Spontaneous). Robin Fisichella (Ma) will executive produce.
