Elizabeth Banks on ‘Cocaine Bear’s’ Sam Raimi & John tributes

• The thriller is inspired by a real-life incident involving a bear ingesting cocaine.
• Banks says the film’s intention is to encourage viewers to think.
• About who they can trust when things take an unexpected turn.

The film, Cocaine Bear, is directed by actress Elizabeth Banks, who is best known for Pitch Perfect 2 and Charlie’s Angel.

The real-life incident that served as the inspiration for the upcoming thriller film involved a bear ingesting a significant amount of cocaine in 1985, despite the fact that it might sound like an outright horror film concept.

A New Hope. Her third movie as a director, Cocaine Bear, was inspired by real-life events as well as Sam Raimi, among others. The actress-turned-director discussed these influences in an interview.

In an interview with CinemaBlend, Banks said that while the upcoming film is amusing given its premise, it also has a “heart” because it shows how families and friends look out for one another during difficult circumstances.

The film’s intention, according to the director, is to encourage viewers to think about who they can trust when events take an entirely unexpected turn (just in case another bear accidentally consumes a huge amount of illegal drugs again).

The “heart of the movie,” according to Banks, was not only because of the drug-infused bear but also because of her love of all things horrific and gory, with a dash of comedy thrown in for good measure. Moreover, she added that the aforementioned factors are only a part of the discussion.

The actress said, quoting Raimi and John Carpenter: “That to me, the heart of the movie, the reason I made it was not necessarily because of the crazy bear. I do love these movies. I love horror and I love gore, and I love comedy and I love Sam Raimi and I love John Carpenter, and I felt like this was an opportunity to… this takes place in 1985, so this is a real opportunity to create a homage to some of those kinds of films, but also to do something really unique too, because it is also a character piece.”

Of course, both Carpenter, who also directed the 1978 Halloween movie and several of its sequels, and Raimi are well-known for their highly sought-after work in the horror genre.

So, with all of that as motivation, it is expected that Cocaine Bear will be ready for a wild theatre experience. Two Steven Spielberg films are also on Banks’ list of inspirations, to which she remarked:

For me, two Steven Spielberg movies that I really looked at when we talked about making this movie with the studio early on were Jaws, of course, and Jurassic Park because that’s the other thing about bears, it’s different from sharks. When you see a bear in the wild, sort of across the field or whatever, you don’t immediately want to run away. You think of a little cuddly or cute [bear]. And I thought Jurassic Park did such an amazing job taking that sense of wonder and awe that you haven’t seen something and then turning it into order when you realize it could be you.

The director continued by saying that she wanted the audience to feel the same emotions that she did while watching Jaws and Jurassic Park.

The upcoming thriller movie draws its inspiration from a 1985 drug bust in Columbia. 40 kilogrammes of cocaine were spilled over Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest when a plane carrying drugs crashed.

The drugs were later discovered in the forest by a black bear, also known as “Pablo EscoBear” or, more appropriately, “Cocaine Bear,” who would later pass away from an overdose.

The movie Cocaine Bear will debut on February 24, 2023. As the name implies, it will probably be an exciting ride. Watch the trailer below until then.

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