Keri Russell stars in 'Cocaine Bear.' Photo: Supplied / Universal Pictures
By Jessica Riga for the ABC
You might not be surprised to learn that a film called Cocaine Bear features a bear and cocaine.
Directed by Elizabeth Banks and now playing in NZ cinemas, the dark comedy thriller follows an American black bear who embarks on "a rampage for blow and blood".
But you might be surprised to learn that Cocaine Bear is actually based on true events.
Here's what you need to know about the real story that inspired the Hollywood flick.
You're telling me there really was a bear who did cocaine?
Yes.
Our story starts on December 22, 1985, in the mountain town of Blue Ridge in northern Georgia.
The story appeared in a 1985 New York Times. Photo: Supplied / NY Times
Investigators were initially combing the forest for cocaine dropped by an airborne drug smuggler (more on him later) when they found a 79kg black bear had overdosed after stumbling upon a duffel bag full of the drug first.
Unsurprisingly, cocaine bear was quickly picked up by the media, with the story appearing in both The New York Times and the Associated Press (AP), among other outlets.
Authorities believed the duffel bag contained cocaine that was part of a large shipment dropped in the area by Andrew Carter Thornton II on a flight from Colombia in September, AP reported.
Investigators believed Thornton, a former Kentucky narcotics officer and lawyer, intended to return to the area to get the cocaine, but he died when he parachuted from the plane with 35 kilograms of cocaine strapped to his waist.
The bear had actually been dead for four weeks before police made the discovery.
Gary Garner, of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, was quoted by AP at the time saying: "The bear got to it before we could, and he tore the duffel bag open, got him some cocaine and OD'd [overdosed]."
"There's nothing left but bones and a big hide."
How much cocaine are we talking about here?
A lot.
The Times reported that the bear had been found among "40 opened plastic containers with traces of cocaine".
The Associated Press wrote that each of the 40 packages was believed to have contained 1 kilogram of cocaine and was "valued at as much as (US)$20 million" at the time.
Dr Kenneth Alonso, the state's chief medical examiner, said an autopsy revealed that the bear absorbed only 3 or 4 grams of cocaine into its bloodstream, "although it may have eaten more".
Cocaine Bear director Elizabeth Banks. Photo: FRAZER HARRISON / GETTY / AFP
And then the bear went on a murderous rampage?
No, thankfully.
That's where the creators behind Cocaine Bear used some creative license.
"All of the characters are made up, other than Andrew Thornton who opens the movie," director Elizabeth Banks told ABC News Breakfast.
"In real life, the bear ate the cocaine and overdosed and died, and this movie is sort of the redemption story for that bear.
"It presents the 24 hours after that bear ingested cocaine and what would have happened if it came across a bunch of people in the woods."
What else do we know about Thornton?
Andrew Thornton fell in Knoxville an hour before an unmanned Cessna aeroplane crashed into a mountain in North Carolina, AP reported.
A key bearing the same identification as the plane was found in his pocket.
Clothes, maps of Jamaica and a pilot's logbook bearing the Cessna's number were found days later in Butts County, about 48 kilometres south of Atlanta.
Multiple other duffel bags were found within 100 metres of the bear's body, containing an additional 130 kilograms of cocaine altogether.
Please tell me that, despite all of this, there's a happy ending for the bear?
That depends on your opinions on taxidermy.
It's said that the bear is currently on display at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington.
The real-life Cocaine Bear at the Kentucky Fun Mall. Can't wait to see the movie! @cocainebear pic.twitter.com/kt67wtSgME
— Jeremy Parnell (@JeremyWasHere) December 1, 2022
In a 2015 blog post, the mall details how it tracked down the whereabouts of the bear after contacting the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The mall believes they possess the real deal due to "tell-tale" scarring on the bear's abdomen from its post-mortem examination 30 years earlier.
The mounted animal now wears a sign reading "Cocaine Bear aka Pablo EskoBear."
After a brief summary of the bear's origin story, there's a warning for fans: "Don't do drugs or you'll end up dead (and maybe stuffed) like poor 'Cocaine Bear'."
- ABC
