Cocaine Bear to double Ireland for Georgia, US

Production has started on Elizabeth Banks’ new comedy-thriller Cocaine Bear in Wicklow, Ireland.

The US actress and director took to Twitter to share the news, telling fans that the film will actually be set in Georgia in the US.

Based on a script by Jimmy Warden and produced by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Lego Movie) with Universal Pictures, Cocaine Bear is inspired by a true story which took place in 1985 involving a 175-pound black bear that consumed the contents of a duffle bag filled with more than 70 pounds of cocaine dropped from an airplane by a local drug smuggler.

Lord Miller’s Aditya Sood brought the project to Universal and will also produce the film alongside Brian Duffield, as well as Banks and Max Handelman (who produce under their Brownstone Productions banner). Brownstone Productions previously produced the successful Pitch Perfect franchise for Universal.

Banks previously directed Pitch Perfect 2 and the 2019 adaptation of Charlie's Angels.

Cocaine Bear is the latest Hollywood film to choose Ireland as a filming location, following Disney’s Disenchanted, which started production in Enniskerry Co. Wicklow earlier this month, and Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez starrer Dungeons & Dragons, currently shooting in Carrickfergus.

Ireland offers a stunning array of filming locations and an enticing 32% – 37% tax credit for film, television and animation.