Elizabeth Banks’ black comedy isn’t set to hit theaters until next February, but the newest trailer suggests Cocaine Bear will be a hit.
If you still need to watch the trailer, here it is.
Lol.
This idea is so bizarre we’re hesitant to take our first shot at forecasting an audience score, but what we have so far suggests a solid 72 – 76. Maybe we’re crazy; who knows? We did our best to avoid getting pulled into promotional production tricks, but the trailer is just so funny; it may be too early to determine whether we’re seeing the best the film has to offer or if it’s a riot from start to stop, but our questionnaire suggests the latter.
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Of course, Elizabeth Banks’ work as an actress is phenomenal, but we only have a little to go off regarding her directorial chops. On this scale, we’re talking about Pitch Perfect 2 (RT audience score: 64) and Charlie’s Angels 2 (RT audience score: 78). Two films mixed with critics but remained fresh with audiences. Banks has momentum.
She’s also got a ridiculous idea that her team has somehow managed to make entertaining for two full minutes. Again, that’s two minutes of a cocaine bear, and it’s good. Before the trailer, it would have been hard to imagine 20 stream-worthy seconds of entertaining cocaine bear footage. Honestly, it’s a novel idea that was probably a hard sell. Someone had to believe in this.
The special effects are great. The cocaine bear is funny. Banks has put together a strong cast. The soundtrack adds value, but it doesn’t seem like it’s used as a bandaid; the jokes land with or without audio (watch it on mute).
What seemed like a silly idea last week may have paws.
The trailer also introduced us to Ray Liotta’s Dentwood (who we assume is the guy behind losing the cocaine) in what may be his last appearance on film. Most were under the impression it was Black Bird, but it appears we will get a welcomed surprise from the late star.
Cocaine Bear, inspired by a true story
The true story behind Cocaine Bear isn’t as outrageous as the producers behind the film would have you believe, but they’re still interesting nonetheless.
In 1985, a smuggler dropped a duffle bag of cocaine over Georgia. “Pablo Eskobear,” as officials called him at the time, had stumbled on the cocaine and eaten half a brick before overdosing. The bear never actually went on a murdering spree, but authorities were able to identify up to four grams of cocaine in it’s bloodstream even though it had been dead for a month. All that was left of the bear was skin and bone when they found it (and cocaine).
The bear has been posthumously celebrated online with memes ever since and portrayed as the animal kingdom’s Tony Montana.
But we need to find out if the world is ready for him on the big screen.
“An apex predator […] out of its mind.” It’s the kind of line you’d expect to find in a B-movie hit like Sharknado, but somehow, it seems like this one could work for a broader audience.
Are you excited about Cocaine Bear after the first trailer?
Cast:
- Keri Russell as Colette Matthews
- O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Howard
- Christian Convery-Jennings as Henry
- Alden Ehrenreich as Marty
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson
- Brooklynn Prince as Colette’s daughter
- Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Bob
- Kristofer Hivju
- Hannah Hoekstra
- Aaron Holliday as Stache
- Margo Martindale
- Ray Liotta as Dentwood
- Matthew Rhys as Andrew C. Thornton II
- Scott Seiss
- Kahyun Kim as Beth
- Shane Connellan as Ray
Cocaine Bear is raiding your picnic on February 24, 2023.