Keri Russell, Ray Liotta, Alden Ehrenreich, [O’Shea Jackson] and Jesse Tyler Ferguson have joined the cast of Universal's "Cocaine Bear", which Elizabeth Banks will direct, and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller will produce, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.

The true story, as reported in 1985 by The New York Times, was that a 175-pound black bear consumed the contents of a duffle bag filled with more than 70 pounds of cocaine that was dropped from an airplane by local drug smuggler Andrew Thornton. The bear was later found dead of an apparent drug overdose.

Production is set to begin August 23 in Ireland. Jimmy Warden wrote the script that’s described as a character-driven thriller inspired by true events that took place in Kentucky in 1985. Additional information is being kept under wraps.

Liotta can be seen in the Steven Soderbegh thriller No Sudden Move and the upcoming in The Sopranos prequel Many Saints of Newark, The (2020).

Best known for her roles in Felicity and The Americans, Keri Russell has been busy on the film front in recent years, most recently seen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) as well as the upcoming horror thriller Antlers directed by Scott Cooper.

Source: Press Release