The horror comedy “Crazy Bear”, where a bear swallows cocaine, was released this week. On this occasion, here are 5 things to know about this crazy film, directed by Elizabeth Banks.
What is it about ? The film is based on a mind-blowing news item: in 1985, a shipment of cocaine that disappeared after the crash of the plane carrying it had in fact been ingested by a brown bear. CRAZY BEAR is a black comedy about a mismatched group of cops, criminals, tourists and teenagers who all converge in the heart of a forest in deep Georgia on the very place where prowls, enraged and bloodthirsty, 200+ pound super predator, driven completely insane by ingesting a staggering dose of cocaine.
A crazy (and absurd!)
Andrew Carter Thornton II, a mercenary at the head of cocaine trafficking nicknamed “The Cocaine Cow-Boy”, imports his goods by plane south of the American border and dumps them in the wilderness a little further east ( to better recover his cargo with his accomplices).
But on September 11, 1985, things did not go as planned. The trafficker is convinced that the Federals spot him when he enters American space. He therefore decides to get rid of 3 backpacks of 30 kilos of cocaine each by throwing them from his plane.
Then, he switches to autopilot before parachuting. But Andrew makes the mistake of loading himself with various bags (containing weapons, drugs, etc.), which prevents him from opening his parachute. It crashes in a suburb of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Andrew Carter Thornton II is not the only victim of this catastrophic theft. Four months later, we find the body of a brown bear weighing 100 kilos… The poor animal had swallowed almost all of the contents of one of the backpacks that the trafficker had thrown.
The animal’s autopsy reveals that it succumbed to a cerebral hemorrhage, hyperthermia, respiratory arrest and a heart attack, while its kidneys stopped working. His stomach is also completely filled with cocaine (15 kilos)…
2022 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved Keri Russell
Birth of the scenario
After discovering this story while surfing the Internet, screenwriter Jimmy Warden realized that he was much more intrigued by what had happened to this coke-intoxicated bear than by the sordid activities of the infamous Thornton. He found an unfortunately laconic comment that explained that the animal must have died in less than 5 minutes, but that those 5 minutes had made him the most enraged predator the planet had ever borne…
Crazy Bear takes up these elements of Thornton’s story and takes place after these generally unknown facts in France. Jimmy Warden (accompanied by Elizabeth Banks and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller) transformed the whole thing into a completely crazy horror comedy in which the animal kills the people he meets (policemen, criminals, etc.). All were invented for the needs of the film (except Andrew Thornton, played by Matthew Rhys).
2022 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved
O’Shea Jackson Jr., Alden Ehrenreich, Ayoola Smart and Ray Liotta
Ray Liotta gangster
Ray Liotta, who died in May 2022, plays Syd, a little St. Louis-based drug kingpin who sets up his dates at the local fast food joint. The actor is used to playing various types of gangsters as his performances in (among others) Goodfellas, Revolver, Cogan or Many Saints of Newark show. Crazy Bear is one of his last films.
2023 Universal Studios
Elizabeth Banks conquered!
Having grown up with the films of the late 1970s and those of the 1980s, Elizabeth Banks immediately grasped the potential of Crazy Bear and the homage to that era that the film would be able to transcribe. But above all, she delighted in the idea of making a gore and entertaining feature film. The director explains: “As a viewer, as well as someone who has always dreamed of becoming a director, I have always loved films that blend horror and comedy. To me, they are two sides of the same coin. “
“Embarking the spectators to better shake them like on a roller coaster, make them jump, laugh and scream at the same time, that’s the best thing that can happen to you as a director. I really saw the opportunity to make a good comedy, with moments of pure laughter, all underpinned by real suspense, and sprinkled with a ton of gore. The opportunity to have a real good time savoring this enormous story of giant bear who, under the influence of drugs, is ready to devour people.”
2023 Universal Studios
Design bear…
The biggest challenge was to design the famous bear. It was out of the question to employ an animal on the set, so it was going to have to be made. Elizabeth Banks decided to entrust this mission to WETA, the famous special effects company created by Peter Jackson. The director also opted for a realistic bear. After reviewing dozens of different species of the Ursidae family, she settled on a female Sun Bear family.
The sun bear is by nature omnivorous, loves trees, is an excellent climber, has a massive stature and a sun-lightened auburn coat, all in muscle, with curved legs, broad sharp claws and a short muzzle. This muzzle is a major asset for hunting, but limits the animal’s sense of smell, which can therefore hinder its ability to discern what is natural or not, edible or not, such as… A sachet of cocaine, for example.
During the last Oscar ceremony, Elizabeth Banks and a bear (or rather an actor wearing an unrealistic bear costume…) came to present the prize for visual effects. The director had explained with humor: “Without the special effects, this is what the bear would look like!”.