"His name is Pablo Escobear": Twitter goes wild as Cocaine Bear drops new trailer

Cocaine Bear, poised for a 2023 release, deals with a bear who was given that moniker in real life. This odd title is because the animal had ingested roughly 88 pounds or around 40 kgs of the drug in 1985 and overdosed to death in Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest, Georgia.

The film takes a bit of creative liberty, though, as its trailer, released recently, showed the bear going on a murderous rampage. This wasn't the case in real life.

Nonetheless, the trailer amused and intrigued people as soon as it hit the digital space.

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Fans react to Cocaine Bear trailer

The trailer for Cocaine Bear, lasting 2:19 minutes, tells the story of how a bear injected cocaine, went wild, and crazily hunted down prey. The movie can be classified as a thriller interspaced with comedic moments.

The story starts relatively simply, with characters learning about the manic bear and its drug-fueled adventures. There is a Narcos flair to it as the DEA gets involved in finding out the culprit behind dropping the contraband.

While the trailer is funny in parts, the emphasis on the gory scenes is a bit much. Nevertheless, the reception to the video was positive, and viewers found Cocaine Bear's storyline exciting. Twitter users were ecstatic to learn about the account and seemed engrossed in the outcome of the fictional narrative.

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All about Cocaine Bear - the film

Helmed by multiple award-nominated director-actress Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear marks her third full-length feature film directorial after Pitch Perfect 2 (2015) and Charlie's Angels (2019).

Banks directed the movie based on Jimmy Warden's screenplay and is also one of the producers, along with her husband, Max Handelman, via their Brownstone Productions banner.

Aditya Sood, Brian Duffield, and Lord Miller Productions's Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have bankrolled Cocaine Bear, too. The film is set to hit theaters on February 24, 2023.

Cocaine Bear marks Ray Liotta's final performance (Image via YouTube/Universal Pictures)

The Cocaine Bear cast comprises Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery-Jennings, Alden Ehrenreich, Kristofer Hivju, Margo Martindale, and Ray Liotta (in one of his final film outings), among others.

Most of the filming happened in the Irish county of Wicklow from August to October 2021.

The synopsis reads:

Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner's plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild dark comedy finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow … and blood.

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All about cocaine bear - the animal

On December 20, 1985, a game-fish agent informed the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) about the carcass of a baribal or black bear in Chattahoochee–Oconee National Forest. Upon reaching the spot, officials found the bear and 40 packages, reportedly containing a kilogram of cocaine each, and all had been exhausted.

A still from Cocaine Bear (Image via YouTube/Universal Pictures)

An article published by AP then reported that the animal ingested "several million dollars worth of cocaine." Rumors suggest the loot was worth $20 million.

GBI officer Gary Garner had told AP:

“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.”

According to the Georgia State Crime Lab's chief medical examiner, the animal's stomach "literally (was) packed to the brim with cocaine," but it noted that it had absorbed only 3-4 gms of the drug.

In later years, some law officers, however, raised doubts if the bear had indeed ingested that much cocaine or if someone had stolen the shipment and sold it.

Reportedly, American narcotics gang leader Andrew Thornton dropped the consignment from a Cessna aircraft near Blairsville and put the plane on autopilot in 1985.

He then strapped around 77 pounds of cocaine to his body and parachuted. Thornton probably misjudged the capacity of the parachute or got stuck in a tree, and he eventually died.

Officers of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) dealt with the investigation (Image via WALB)

Lexington-based Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall currently displays the bear, later dubbed "Cocaine Bear" or "Pablo Escobear" (inspired by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar).