‘Cocaine Bear’ Filmmaker, Elizabeth Banks: ‘This Could Be a Career Ender’

What the “Cocaine Bear” trailer showcased was the definition of what Martin Scorsese referred to as “true cinema.”

The fact that “Cocaine Bear” is based on a true story makes it somewhat of a curiosity. But, clearly, director Elizabeth Banks has taken liberties with the actual events. Hey, If you're going to call a movie COCAINE BEAR, then it better deliver the way the trailer has.

Now, Banks is admitting that her venture into the drug-induced Bear genre is a major risk that could foreseeably end her career as a filmmaker:

“‘Cocaine Bear’ is a ginormous risk,” she says, breaking into a peal of that laughter. “This could be a career ender for me.”

The footage shown in the trailer makes it look like the ‘Snakes on a Plane’ of coked-out bear movies: "The bear... it fucking did cocaine. A BEAR DID COCAINE!" shouts one character.

My gut tells me, purely based on word of mouth, that “Cocaine Bear” and Banks are safe, it will be a hit. Its trailer has been getting mentioned a lot in my circles, for whatever it’s worth. This kind of self-aware hybrid of horror and comedy is quite popular these days.

What Banks seems to be aiming for here is a kind of Joe Dante styled romp. That’s probably the very best case scenario for how this movie might turn out. “Cocaine Bear” is scheduled for release on February 24, 2023.