Hollywood star Elizabeth Banks has defended a controversial scene in her upcoming R-rated thriller in which a group of 12-year-olds accidentally take cocaine, claiming it shows their ‘innocence being tested’.
Banks directed the film, Cocaine Bear, which is based on the true story of a 175-pound black bear who died after finding a duffel bag containing the drug when it was dropped by smugglers in a Georgia forest in 1985.
In an interview with Variety magazine, the 48-year-old Pitch Perfect 2 director said the movie, which will be released later this month, could be a ‘career ender’ for her – and admitted the scene depicting children doing the Schedule II drug is ‘definitely controversial’.
‘There were conversations about, should we age up these characters?’ Banks told Variety. ‘We all kind of held hands and we were like ‘guys, they’ve got to be 12.’
‘It’s their innocence being tested. ‘That’s what was interesting to me about the scene,’ she added.
Actress-turned-director Elizabeth Banks recently chatted with Variety about her R-rated dark comedy, Cocaine Bear, which she sees as a ‘ginormous risk’ for her career; seen in 2022
The clip shows two 12-year-olds stumbling upon packets of cocaine and daring each other to try some.
It was originally intended as the opening scene but Banks later changed that plan.
The movie is set to be released on February 24 but has already courted dozens of headlines due to the amount of gore featured, while experts questioned its commitment to the real life chain of events.
It is also the final film to star actor Ray Liotta, who died in his sleep aged 67 shortly after filming, in May.
The movie plot is centered around a bear that goes on a murderous rampage searching for ‘blood and blow’ after guzzling cocaine dropped from a smuggler’s plane.
It has a budget of around $30 million, with the drug-fueled bear being brought to life through CGI.
There are dozens of bloody scenes, with Banks telling Varity ‘the gore is part of the fun of the ride.’
But the true story that inspired the movie is said to be far less dramatic after medical examiners said it is likely the bear only consumed a very small quantity of the drug.
Cocaine Bear boasts a budget of around $30million, with much of it going towards bringing the ferocious drug-fueled bear to life through CGI
Terror: The film – which is slated for a theatrical release on February 24 – centers around an American black bear that embarks on a killing spree after ingesting a duffle bag full of cocaine
Cast: It stars the likes of Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and the late Ray Liotta (pictured)
The bear sourced the drug from a duffel bag, believed to be a 300-pound shipment of Colombian cocaine, that had been dropped out of a plane across eastern Tennessee and northern Georgia, authorities said.
Convicted drug smuggler, Andrew Carter Thornton II, was linked to the shipment after his body was found on a driveway in Knoxville, Tennessee on September 11, 1985, with 77 pounds of cocaine strapped to his waist.
The real-life bear was found dead three months later, lying beside an empty bag and 40 opened bags of blow, with a medical examiner ruling he suffered from cerebral hemorrhaging, respiratory failure, hyperthermia, renal failure, heart failure and a stroke.
The plot of Elizabeth Banks’ new movie, titled Cocaine Bear, is being kept under wraps so far but will be based on the bizarre true story of a 175-pound black bear who died after eating cocaine it had found in a duffel bag in a Georgia forest back in 1985. A relic of the Cocaine Bear is seen in Kentucky above
In 1985, authorities reported that a black bear (file image, right) died after eating cocaine from a duffel bag it found in a Georgia forest that was dumped there by a drug smuggler. Police said the duffel bag was part of a shipment dropped in the area by Andrew Carter Thornton II (left)
His taxidermized body is now on display at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington.
Banks also told Varity she has never used cocaine herself.
‘I took ‘Just say no’ to heart… being a goody-two-shoes played into it,’ she said.
‘Personal safety played a big role in it. I was a cocktail waitress for years. And I was not interested in not being sober for the sh** I saw.’
Cocaine Bear is Bank’s first directorial project since the 2019 blockbuster flop Charlie’s Angels, which starred Kristen Stewart, Ella Balinska and Naomi Scott.
It made just over $70million at the worldwide box office with a budget of $50million. Banks also came under fire after people felt she blamed Charlie’s Angels failure on industry sexism.
‘I took full responsibility for ‘Charlie’s Angels’ — certainly no one else did. It was all laid on me and I happily accepted, because what else am I supposed to do?’
With Cocaine Bear seen as her comeback, Banks wanted to ‘make something muscular and masculine’ and ‘break down some of the mythology around what kinds of movies women are interested in making.’
Banks shared that’s she’s never actually experimented with drugs. ‘I took ‘Just say no’ to heart… being a goody-two-shoes played into it,’ explained the Man On A Ledge star; seen in 2020
She continued: ‘For some bizarre reason, there are still executives in Hollywood who are like, “I don’t know if women can do technical stuff.”‘
‘There are literally people who are like, “Women don’t like math.’ It just persists.’
