• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Elizabeth Banks says 80s horror inspired future cult classic Cocaine Bear

December 3, 2022 by EJ Moreno

If you’ve seen it on social media recently or keep up with movie news, Cocaine Bear is the talk of the town. The wild first trailer for the new Elizabeth Banks film premiered this week, and it caused quite a splash.

Speaking to SlashFilm, Banks spoke about her inspirations for the project and where she pulled from when putting this together. Firstly, she mentions the infamous ‘Just Say No’ campaign, and the D.A.R.E. movement feels crucial to the story. She adds, “this felt a little bit like the bear’s revenge story because the bear became collateral damage in that failed war.”

Speaking of revenge films, Banks says she went back to hardcore 80s movies. The filmmaker namedropped Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man) and John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) as directors she loved and felt she wanted to homage to here.

“I do love these movies, and I love horror, and I love gore. And I love horror comedy. I love Sam Raimi, and I love John Carpenter… This takes place in 1985, so it’s a real opportunity to create a homage to some of those kinds of films, but also to do something really unique tonally because it’s also a character piece.”

There’s been much discussion regarding the titular bear and his coke-fueled rage. Banks says no matter how outlandish the movie may seem, she wanted accuracy when crafting the bear.

“The bear is as photorealistic Nat Geo documentary as you can make the bear from the beginning. But we also knew that once the bear had coke, that was our little magic sprinkle dust that we can put on the bear and ‘oh, we can get away with a couple of things!’.”

Banks says she even nicknamed him ‘Cokey,’ which is pretty adorable and showcases the tone of what the filmmakers were going for with Cocaine Bear.

Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild dark comedy finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow … and blood.

Cocaine Bear stars Keri Russell (The Americans), O’Shea Jackson, Jr. (Straight Outta Compton), Christian Convery-Jennings (Sweet Tooth), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (BlacKkKlansman), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), Hannah Hoekstra (Charlie’s Angels), Aaron Holliday (Sharp Objects), Margo Martindale (The Americans) and Ray Liotta (The Many Saints of Newark).

Cocaine Bear arrives in cinemas on February 24th.

 

Filed Under: EJ Moreno, Movies, News Tagged With: cocaine bear, Elizabeth Banks

About EJ Moreno

EJ Moreno is a film and television critic and entertainment writer who joined the pop culture website Flickering Myth in 2018 and now serves as the executive producer of Flickering Myth TV, a YouTube channel with over 27,000 subscribers. With over a decade of experience, he is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic who is also part of the Critics Choice Association and GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

10 Great Slow-Burn Horror Movies To Fill You With Dread

Ten Underrated Action Movies That Deserve More Love

The Essential Man vs Machine Sci-Fi B-Movies

7 Mad Movie Doctors Who Deserve More Recognition

Great Korean Animated Movies You Need To See

The Rise of Paul Thomas Anderson: A Living Legend

The Essential One Man Army Action Movies

The Most Overlooked Horror Movies of the 1990s

The Essential Tony Scott Movies

7 Underrated World War II Romance Movies

Top Stories:

Comic Book Review – Rick and Morty vs. The Universe #1

Movie Review – Saint Clare (2025)

18 Incredible 21st Century Films You May Have Missed

Feel the Heat: 10 Uncomfortably Hot and Sweaty Films

10 Great 1980s Sci-Fi Adventure Movies

James Gunn’s Superman soars with $217 million worldwide box office opening

Movie Review – Eddington (2025)

Comic Book Review – Star Trek: Red Shirts #1

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

Underrated 2000s Cult Classics You Need To See

20 Epic Car Chases That Will Drive You Wild

The Film Feud of the 90s: Steven Seagal vs Jean-Claude Van Damme

The Most Iconic Moments of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket