'Cocaine Bear': The True, Wild Story Behind the Buzzed-About Film

"Cocaine Bear" is an unlikely title for a movie, to say the least, yet the forthcoming Elizabeth Banks-directed flick actually stems from a wild true story.

The moviemakers released a poster for the film on Monday, generating tons of buzz on Twitter.

Set for release on February 24, 2023, the black-and-white poster features a massive bear in mid-roar. A white, powdery substance forms a sort of halo around the beast. The film title appears in all capital letters below the furry mammal, with the word "BEAR" scrawled in red.

The poster also states that the movie was "inspired by true events."

Is Cocaine Bear a True Story?

Back in 1985, the real-life animal that would come to be known as "Cocaine Bear" was discovered by Georgia investigators, according to The Independent. It clocked in at 175 pounds.

Unfortunately, the bear was nearby a duffel bag, which at one point had been packed "with more than 70 pounds of cocaine."

The bag—and at least nine others—had been flung from a plane by a drug smuggler named Andrew Thornton II, who'd been born into a family of well-to-do horse breeders in Kentucky. At one point in his life, Thornton had been a narcotics officer and even a lawyer.

The lawyer-turned-cocaine smuggler's cargo on that fateful day carried an estimated $15 million price tag.

Thornton died after he leaped from the plane, per The Independent. He neglected to activate his parachute after bumping his head on the aircraft, which subsequently crashed into some mountains more than 60 miles away in North Carolina.

The man's body itself was discovered in a memorable way: splayed out on a Tennessee home's driveway. Thornton had been carrying $4,500 in cash and multiple weapons while dressed in a bulletproof vest and Gucci loafers.

Nine duffel bags' worth of the Colombia-manufactured cocaine were later uncovered by authorities. Another bag—and the expired bear—were discovered in a northern Georgia forest.

"Its stomach was literally packed to the brim with cocaine," a medical examiner once said of the bear, according to The Independent. "There isn't a mammal on the planet that could survive that."

The expert reportedly continued: "Cerebral hemorrhaging, respiratory failure, hyperthermia, renal failure, heart failure, stroke. You name it, that bear had it."

'Pablo Escobear'

The bear was later taxidermied and received a cheeky nickname: "Pablo Eskobear," a nod to the infamous Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

Since its discovery, the Cocaine Bear has had an unusual after-life, popping up in several locations. It was displayed in a visitor center at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, landed in a pawn shop in Nashville and was acquired by country-music great Waylon Jennings, to name a few.

These days, though, the so-called Pablo Eskobear is a big deal on social media. Its taxidermied corpse currently stands on guard in a store at a Lexington, Kentucky, mall.

Ray Liotta in Cocaine Bear

Film legend Ray Liotta stars in Cocaine Bear, one of his final roles. Liotta, who died earlier this year at 67, had classified the flick as "kind of nutty" and said he thought it would be "really good."

"Elizabeth Banks directed it and she was great to work with," Liotta told Newsweek last November. "Yeah, that's an odd one."

Liotta continued: "I play the guy whose coke it is—imagine that. Just the title. I go, 'Cocaine Bear? What the fudge.'"

Newsweek reached out to representatives for Banks for additional comment.

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