I Can't Believe I'm Saying This, but There's a True Story Behind 'Cocaine Bear'
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If you've seen the trailer for Elizabeth Bank's gore-filled dark comedy Cocaine Bear, the last thing on your mind is that it's based on a true story. The whole point is that it seems so unrealistic. The characters in the film—played by Alden Ehrenreich, O'Shea Jackson Jr.,
Isiah Whitlock Jr., Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, the late Ray Liotta, and Keri Russell—can't believe it. Why should we? Welp... I've got some news. While 90 percent of the movie is in no way tethered to reality, a black bear really did chomp up cocaine dumped by drug smugglers from a plane crash in 1985. Technically speaking, Cocaine Bear is based on a true story...with a bear-sized emphasis on the word "based." The true story is less violent and actually kind of sad.
Before getting the Hollywood treatment, Cocaine Bear could best be described as a local legend. While she's not called it in the movie, the IRL Cocaine Bear has been nicknamed "Pablo Escobear" after Colombian drug lord and "king of cocaine" Pablo Escobar. Here are some other things about the true story behind Cocaine Bear that might interest you.
Cocaine Bear is a sensationalized version of a true story
Fact: in 1985, 40 plastic containers of cocaine were dropped in the wilderness near the Tennessee/Georgia border by two drug smugglers flying from Colombia to various locations in the United States. Fact: one of the smugglers died while trying to evacuate the plane when his parachute failed to open. Fact: about three months later, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported a dead black bear in the Chattahoochee National Forest who had consumed 75 pounds of the stuff.
Fiction: the coked-up bear developed an addiction and went on a killing spree. At least, not that we know of. It's possible that she caused mayhem in those missing months. More likely though, she overdosed and died shortly after eating the bricks. She didn't know what she was eating! Another fiction (that is a slight spoiler for the movie) is that Cocaine Bear had two adorable Cocaine Bear Cubs.
There is one character based on an actual person from the IRL Cocaine Bear story
The aforementioned drug smuggler who died, Kentucky resident Andrew C. Thornton II, is played in Cocaine Bear by Keri Russell's IRL husband Matthew Rhys. Thornton was a real person! He was a former narcotics officer, former lawyer, and former Army paratrooper-turned-drug ring leader. What's wild, depending on your definition of wild, is that the real Thornton died on September 11–a date that would be a little distracting in a movie today. His story was also the inspiration for the characters "Drew Thompson" and "Waldo Truth" in the fourth season of Justified. He was also the source of inspiration for The Bluegrass Conspiracy, a best-selling nonfiction book by investigative journalist Sally Denton.
You can go see "Pablo Escobear" IRL
The actual, real Cocaine Bear was taxidermied. She's currently on display at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington, KY. According to their website, Miss Cocaine Bear went on quite the cross-country journey. Before landing in Kentucky, she was kept at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in the visitor's center. She then went missing (!!) and resurfaced in Las Vegas. When her new owner passed away, the Fun Mall contacted the estate and took possession of the bear. Her new home even has, like, a ton of very cool-looking Cocaine Bear merch you can buy! (Not that anyone's asking but I'm particularly partial to the one that parodies an old D.A.R.E. shirt.)
So while the poor bear died in some pretty awful circumstances, at least she has a pretty cool legacy AND the Hollywood star treatment. Cocaine Bear, you are all of us!
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