Tale of 'Pablo Escobear' unfolds on the big screen
MANILA, Philippines — It's hard to imagine a big black bear getting high on cocaine and going on a killing rampage, but a film loosely inspired by a real-life incident in 1985 sees it unfolding in a Hollywood flick directed by Elizabeth Banks.
"The Hunger Games" star directed "Cocaine Bear," a campy movie that takes inspiration from the 1985 incident involving an American black bear found dead in Georgia.
Dubbed "Pablo Escobear," the bear's discovery was an accidental one after his carcass was found near a duffel bag with nearly 40 kilograms of cocaine scattered around the area in December 1985. He was found in Chattahoochee National Forest near Blue Ridge, Georgia.
Reports said the duffel bag was dropped by a former officer who was trying to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
Autopsy reports reveal that the American black bear suffered from cerebral hemorrhaging and stroke due to cocaine overdose.
"Cocaine Bear" stars Keri Russell, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Brooklyn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr, Margo Martindale and Ray Liotta.
Banks is aware of criticisms on her film but has this to say, "There was no greater metaphor for the chaos that we were all feeling... than a bear high on cocaine." — With reports from AFP
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