Cocaine Bear (2023)

Cocaine Bear is a dark comedy-thriller produced by Universal Pictures. Elizabeth Banks steps behind the camera to direct, while Keri Russell (The Americans), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Straight Outta Compton), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), and viral Tik-Tok star Scott Seiss form the cast. Famed Goodfellas actor Ray Liotta also appears in one of his final roles before his death in May 2022.

Cocaine Bear is inspired by a true story. In 1985, narcotics officer turned drug smuggler Andrew C. Thornton II offloaded several kilos of cocaine from a plane over a forest in Georgia, USA, after fearing he was being pursued by authorities. The stash was subsequently found and consumed by a 175-pound bear. Although the real bear — affectionately known as Pablo Escobear — actually died of an overdose, the story continued to gain traction, sparking imaginations and belly laughs throughout the decades, finally culminating in the full-length feature film, Cocaine Bear.