Elizabeth Banks worried about her mother's reaction to Cocaine Bear

23 February 2023

Elizabeth Banks fears that her mother will "lose her mind" when she sees 'Cocaine Bear'.

Elizabeth Banks is concerned about her mother's reaction to 'Cocaine Bear'

The 49-year-old director has helmed the horror comedy movie about a bear that goes on the rampage after ingesting a bag of cocaine and is worried about how her mother Ann will react when she watches the film for the first time.

Elizabeth told Variety at the premiere on Tuesday (21.02.23): "I'm going to be honest with you, no one knows what to make of it when I tell them about it.

"My poor mother is the least informed. She's going to go with my aunts and they're going to lose their minds. I told her she's going to be mad."

The 'Charlie's Angels' director added: "She will laugh and she's going to love Margo Martindale and Isiah Whitlock Jr. and the dog. Not enough people talk about the dog, Rosette. She'll love those parts, but she'll close her eyes for a lot of it."

The movie is inspired by the true story of an American black bear that ingested a duffel bag full of cocaine dropped by drug smugglers in 1985 and the crew wanted the animal – which was designed by Peter Jackson's Weta FX company – to look as a realistic as possible.

Producer Chris Miller told The Hollywood Reporter: "It was very important to us and very important to Elizabeth to make sure that you really believe the bear, because if you didn't then the whole movie is pointless.

"They studied actual crazy things that bears do, bear movements and stuff, and then we goosed it a little bit."

Elizabeth previously acknowledged that she was putting her career at risk by making the bizarre movie.

She explained: "'Cocaine Bear' is a ginormous risk. This could be a career ender for me."