A little Georgian town serves as the backdrop for the dark action comedy Cocaine Bear.
According to the synopsis, “After ingesting a duffel bag full of cocaine, a 500 lb American black bear goes on a killing rampage in a small town of Georgia where a group of locals and tourists must join forces to survive the attack.”
Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Hoekstra, Margo Martindale, and Ray Liotta in one of his final performances before his passing in 2022 are all part of the ensemble cast in Elizabeth Banks’ directed and co-produced film Cocaine Bear.
Is Cocaine Bear Based on a Real Story?
Cocaine Bear is “inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it,” according to the official website.
The real-life bear, nicknamed Pablo Escobear (after “the king of cocaine,” Pablo Escobar), was a 150-pound American black bear that was found in Fannin County, Georgia, close to a duffel bag and 40 partially devoured sachets of cocaine.
Cocaine Bear tweeted about this on Twitter:
real movie. inspired by real events. so real. pic.twitter.com/p1tRSWjUvF
— Cocaine Bear (@cocainebear) February 25, 2023
What Happened to Pablo Escobear?
Pablo Escobear overdosed on cocaine and died on the spot instead of going on “on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow and blood.”
The bear contained three to four grams of the medication in its bloodstream, the Washington Post reports from an autopsy.
Drug trafficker Andrew Carter Thornton II is thought to have abandoned the drugs months earlier with plans to retrieve them, according to the narcotics investigators who made the discovery.
But in September 1985, Thornton died after jumping out of a plane. He was found with 34 “football-sized” bags of cocaine and a malfunctioning parachute on his back.
Nonetheless, Pablo Escobear appears to have been stuffed and is now on display at the Fun Mall shop in Kentucky.
But, that shop is lending it to a nearby movie theatre so that customers may meet the “100% real” bear and even purchase unique merchandise.
On February 24, Cocaine Bear will be shown in theatres in the US and the UK.
Cocaine Bear: Separating Fact from Fiction
While the basic details of the story are true, several myths and exaggerations have grown up around it over the years. Here are a few key facts to keep in mind:
- The bear in question was a black bear, not a grizzly bear as some versions of the story claim.
- The bear did ingest a large amount of cocaine, but it did not die from an overdose. Instead, it likely died from the physical effects of the drug on its body, such as an increased heart rate and hyperthermia.
- While the bear’s death is a tragic outcome of the drug trade, it is important to remember that animals are often unwitting victims of human activities, such as habitat destruction and pollution.
Cocaine Bear Trailer
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