This is the unhinged true story that inspired Elizabeth Bank’s new movie Cocaine Bear

Right now everyone is talking about Cocaine Bear and the batshit true story behind it. The movie is an action-comedy and you might be wondering if the premise of the film is actually as real as it says it is. So here’s a rundown of that film and the true story behind it. I am so shook this is a blockbuster.

This is the true story behind Cocaine Bear

Elizabeth Bank’s action-comedy tells the story of a black bear who eats several large blocks of cocaine which was accidentally air dropped into a forest during a botched smuggling operation. Yes, it’s fucking insane.

The bear is literally as high as a kite and running on a drug-induced rage as it hunts for…more cocaine. The bear goes on a killing spree and unleashes total havoc amongst the population. Meanwhile the original drug smugglers search for their missing stash without knowing they’re running straight into the bear’s cocaine filled stomach. Big yikes.

Thankfully though for the people of Georgia where the bear is. The real version of the story is way less savage. In 1985, investigators searching for drugs discovered the ripped-up remnants of cocaine packages in Georgia’s National forest. Each of the 40 packages reportedly held a kilogram of cocaine – around $20 million at the time.

Nearby the packages, they also found a deceased bear who had apparently helped himself to the product. According to an Associated Press article at the time, officials essentially believed the bear had eaten “several million dollars worth of cocaine.”

The article says: “The bear got to it before we could, and he tore the duffel bag open, got him some cocaine and overdosed. There’s nothing left but bones and a big hide.”

So unlike the film, there’s no evidence the bear went on a killing rampage and made the lives of those living in Georgia absolute hell. When it comes to the drugs though and how they ended up in a forest, it was reported an alleged gang leader had picked up the cocaine on a smuggling run from Columbia.

The packages were dropped out of the plane near Blairsville in Georgia and the smuggler, Andrew Thornton, then parachuted out of the plane with 77 more pounds of cocaine strapped to his body. Thornton reportedly misjudged the weight of the cocaine on him and fell to his death landing in the driveway of a Knoxville resident. Investigators found the keys to his unnamed plane that had crashed into a mountain in North Carolina.

You can watch the Cocaine Bear trailer here:

Cocaine Bear is being released on 24th February 2023. 

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