Cocaine Bear, a movie about a real-life coked-out bear that became the stuff of legend, deserves a top notch cast. And for director Elizabeth Banks, she’s definitely assembled one. Deadline reports Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson, Alden Ehrenreich, Ray Liotta, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson will star.
Based on the insane true story, Cocaine Bear follows events that took place in Kentucky in 1985, when a bear swallowed a cache of cocaine thrown from a plane by Andrew Thornton, a former Lexington narcotics agent who became a drug smuggler. Thornton died while parachuting out of the plane carrying $15M in cocaine over Knoxville.
Banks will direct, making this her third effort following Pitch Perfect 2 and the Charlie’s Angels reboot. She’s working from a script by Jimmy Warden, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller on board as producers.
There’s a ton of star power here, including a trio of Star Wars actors in Russell, who played Zorii Bliss in The Rise of Skywalker, Ehrenreich who is the other Han Solo guy, and Jackson who has a role in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Liotta is a screen legend who can be seen right now in Steven Soderbergh’s No Sudden Move, while Ferguson is coming off a decade-long stretch on Modern Family.
This cast!! Dream team. #CocaineBear #KeriRussell @OsheaJacksonJr #RayLiotta #AldenEhrenreich @jessetyler pic.twitter.com/fjMfaTWa9B
— Elizabeth Banks (@ElizabethBanks) July 1, 2021
