A new documentary will explore the true story behind this year’s utterly wild hit film .
Directed by Elizabeth Banks, the thriller after coming across a large amount of cocaine in the woods, after a drug run goes terribly wrong.
It sees in one of the final roles before his death, alongside the likes of Jesse Tyler Ferguson, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Isaiah Whitlock Jr, and Margo Martindale.
The film immediately went viral following last year, but what shocked viewers even more than a drug-addled bear was the fact it was based on a true story – yes, really.
Cocaine Bear: The True Story, which comes to Peacock today, endeavours to and show viewers what really happened when an American black bear got its hands on a duffel bag filled with cocaine.
The documentary will tell the story of Andrew C. Thornton II, a Kentucky native and member of the Lexington police department’s narcotics squad who soon became more interested in selling them than catching those who did.
Thornton became an infamous drug runner who, in September 1985, took to the skies for his last operation as he jumped out of the plane over Knoxville, Tennessee, with bags filled with $15 million (£11.9 million) of cocaine when his parachute failed.
He threw the three duffle bags of cocaine overboard and they landed in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia.
Two months later, a 200lb American black bear was found dead, with it later being determined it had died of a cocaine overdose – though the bear went on a drug-fuelled rampage as we see in the film, in fact, they’re not even sure the mammal got ‘high’ from the drugs.
The animal – affectionately known as Pablo EskoBear – is now on display in Lexington, Kentucky.
‘People say he was as ludicrous as ludicrous could be,’ a man says in the documentary trailer, over clips of Thornton boarding the plane that would lead to the events that unfold.
‘It has corruption, murder, gun-running, you name ii,’ another man says of the tale, with the words ‘this will blow you away’ appearing on screen over more images and video from the case.
The trailer for the documentary shows those closest to the case talking about what happened, including the sheriff first on the scene as well as the special agent whose team apprehended the bear.
Discussing how he set about taking Cocaine Bear to the big screen, told Metro.co.uk: ‘It’s inspired by a true story, and it truly is. I read that story of Andrew Carter Thornton and the cocaine bear, it came about when I was procrastinating, trying to delay doing something else.
‘I couldn’t get over it. I was obsessed with it. I loved the idea of using that as a jumping off point into a monster movie. Not necessarily harping on the true crime of it all, but really letting my imagination run wild.
‘What would happen if the bear did cocaine and didn’t die? Then, to me, it was like – this is a monster movie. This is Jurassic Park. It’s Jaws.
‘The objective was always just to have fun and to entertain the audience, give them something that really just laugh.’
Following the success of Cocaine Bear in February, an utterly ridiculous trailer for the upcoming was released – and this one is also based on a true story.
As well as Cocaine Bear, the new film also takes inspiration from New Zealand authorities revealing 3.2 tonnes of cocaine had been found in the Pacific Ocean.
The synopsis reads: ‘A mafia drug lord has unleashed a new, highly addictive stimulant on the streets called HT25, derived from sharks held captive in a secret lab, and which causes monstrous side effects.
‘After an explosion and leak at the lab, an army of mutated, bloodthirsty sharks and other creatures are set loose on the world.’
Cocaine Bear: The True Story comes to Peacock on April 14.
