The true story behind Elizabeth Banks’ ‘Cocaine Bear’
Elizabeth Banks’ ridiculously seeming and unsubtly-titled action comedy film, Cocaine Bear, has just been released in cinemas. The sto tells of an American black bear that ingests an entire duffel bag of the white powder and naturally goes on a rampage in the middle of the Georgia wilderness.
Interestingly, Cocaine Bear is partially based on a true story, believe it or not. Back in 1985, an American black bear (later humorously named Pablo Escobear) overdosed on cocaine after drug smugglers had dropped it from a plane. The bear was found dead in a forest in Georgia.
The person responsible for the bear ingesting the coke was Andrew C. Thornton II, an ex-narcotics officer and subsequent drug smuggler. In September 1985, Thornton had been trafficking drugs from Columbia into Georgia, USA. One night, he and an accomplice piloted a light aircraft after making a drop in Blairsville. However, during the flight, Thornton accidentally dropped several containers of coke into the forest below. They decided to abandon the aircraft above Knoxville, Tennessee, by jumping out of it, but Thornton soon died when his parachute failed to deploy.
Two months later, the bear was found dead in Georgia. Reportedly, he had eaten 34 kilograms of the stuff, with a street value of two million dollars. Tragically, the unsuspecting bear was “packed to the brim” with cocaine, according to Georgia State Crime Lab’s Dr Kenneth Alonso. However, by the time of its death, he had only absorbed three or four grams into its bloodstream.
Upon hearing about the true story, Banks said (via RadioTimes): “My first thought was that I was really sad for the actual bear. Because the real bear OD’d on the drugs and died. And so I was so tickled by the notion that this movie could be the redemption story for that bear – that I could avenge that original bear’s death through making this movie.”
So evidently, the real-life bear did not consume the cocaine, get charged up and let loose in a frenzy, killing people and causing a collective from a small Georgia town to come together and survive its attacks. However, the sad story of the innocent bear consuming the drug and subsequently dying certainly inspired Banks’ film. As she claims, hopefully, the movie can serve as a tribute to the unfair passing of the bear.
Check out the trailer below.
