The Hollywood Reporter says Elizabeth Banks has been hired by Universal to helm a film about a bear on a cocaine-fuelled rampage. Banks previously directed the musical Pitch Perfect 2 and the latest Charlie’s Angels movie. As bizarre as this story sounds, it is loosely inspired by actual events. In 1985, a group of drug smugglers, led by a former narcotics officer, lawyer, and paratrooper, dropped a shipment of cocaine over the Kentucky wilderness before jumping out of their Cessna airplane. Three months later, someone found a dead black bear: the poor animal overdosed on cocaine dropped by the smugglers.
In its current form, this story makes for a great elevator pitch. It remains to be seen if the talent behind the camera can turn it into a fun movie. The project will be produced by the Lord Miller production company, started by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, a creative duo behind films like The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street. Jimmy Warden, who previously penned dark comedy The Babysitter: Killer Queen for Netflix, will write the script. Previously, the project has been developed by Radio Silence. In 2019, this filmmaking team, consisting of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Chad Villella, filmed an excellent dark comedy Ready or Not.
