Will 2023’s biggest movie star be a black bear on cocaine? By the looks of it, maybe. Universal released the trailer for Cocaine Bear on Wednesday and the movie looks chaotic, star-studded and fun. Directed by Elizabeth Banks, the movie is inspired by a true story that took place in the ’80s. The bizarre thriller premiers in theaters on Feb. 24, 2023.
Like other movies named after their beastly subjects (Snakes on a Plane, The Birds), the title and the content of this movie is fairly self-evident: It’s a bear on coke. When a 500-pound black bear inadvertently consumes cocaine that fell from a helicopter, the beast embarks on a quest to kill anyone in sight and becomes addicted to the substance. The trailer is chaotic and exhilarating with hints of humor and absurdity–it’s a bear on cocaine, after all.
In 1985, Andrew Thornton, a convicted drug smuggler and narcotics officer, offloaded a duffel bag filled with cocaine across Georgia, according to Variety. A 175-pound bear got ahold of it, and while the bear didn’t become deadly after consuming it, the bear did end up overdosing and dying.
Some notable actors of the Cocaine Bear cast include Goodfellas star Ray Liotta (who died in May) and Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It also includes three Star Wars actors: Alden Ehrenreich from Solo, Keri Russell from The Rise of Skywalker and O’Shea Jackson Jr. from Obi-Wan Kenobi.