How Sam Raimi and Jurassic Park influenced Elizabeth Banks' vision for Cocaine Bear

Director Elizabeth Banks' Cocaine Bear (out Feb. 24) concerns a wild bear who, yes, ingests a large amount of cocaine with terrifying consequences for characters played by Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, Alden Ehrenreich, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and the late Ray Liotta, among others. The film is loosely inspired by a true story, but what inspired Banks when she was considering her vision for the '80s-set movie? The filmmaker reveals that she was most influenced by the films of Sam Raimi and the dinosaurs of Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.

Universal Pictures 'Cocaine Bear'

"I mean, Evil Dead, just in terms of tone, is such a touchpoint for me," says Banks of Raimi's horror franchise. "You know, Sam has a great wink about what he does. I love gore. I think it's really fun. It's always struck me as very funny in a weird way. It's a trope of the genre that I wanted to play with in this case. I just didn't think we could make a movie about a rampaging bear on a bender without the gore. I mean, bears literally eat their prey alive."

In addition to being a fan of Raimi's Evil Dead movies, Banks actually collaborated with the filmmaker when she played Betty Brant in the original Raimi-directed Spider-Man trilogy.

"I loved working with him," she says. "It was on the set of Spider-Man, watching him work with the cinematographer Bill Pope, that I first had the inkling that maybe I could be a director someday. So I find him to be really inspirational."

Universal Pictures 'Jurassic Park'

"Another touchpoint for me was Jurassic Park," continues the actress-turned-filmmaker, who previously directed 2015's Pitch Perfect 2 and 2019's Charlie's Angels. "The first Jurassic Park is sort of a true north in the way that, when they first saw the dinosaurs in that movie, you thought, 'Oh man, that's so awe-inspiring, look at that,' and then that wonder turns to fear. For me, bears are not inherently scary, so we had to create that scenario at the very beginning of the movie where it is wonderful to see a bear in nature, we all get a little like, woo, cool, it's titillating, but then you also don't want it to come too close to you. Your instincts do kick in; you do understand that it's an apex predator. And so, playing with that, Jurassic Park was a real touchstone for us."

Finally, Banks reveals that she was inspired by another director who knows a thing or two about mixing horror and comedy.

"We were making a movie in the '80s, so, of course, John Carpenter comes to mind," she says of the Escape From New York and Big Trouble in Little China auteur.

Cocaine Bear rampages into theaters on Feb. 24. Watch the film's trailer below.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• Cocaine Bear director Elizabeth Banks says she would totally make Cocaine Shark

• Bear goes on a coked-out killing spree in the insane first trailer for Elizabeth Banks' Cocaine Bear

• Yes, Cocaine Bear is based on the true story of a bear who ate way too much cocaine

• Marvel's Loki inspired Elizabeth Banks' new Pitch Perfect TV series