Hey Winnie the Pooh, that's not honey

The next time someone complains that “Hollywood doesn’t make anything original anymore,” simply look them in the eyes and say two words: Cocaine Bear.

After exceeding industry expectations with a $23.1 million opening this past weekend, the biggest start for an R-rated film this year, Cocaine Bear has a lot of people asking, “Wait, what?”

The movie is loosely – and we do mean loosely – inspired by a true story, which started when former DEA agent/narcotics cop turned drug dealer Andrew Thorton III tossed 35 pounds of cocaine out of his plane, then died while trying to parachute out.

Four months later, a 175-pound black bear was found dead after reportedly consuming all 35 pounds of cocaine, earning him the nickname Pablo Eskobear.

🐻 Stranger than fiction: That’s about where the real-life story ends. But for director Elizabeth Banks and writer Jimmy Warden, that was only the beginning of a film that'd answer a simple question: what if that bear didn’t die but instead, ya know, went on a murderous rampage?

And if you’re wondering whether Cocaine Bear’s success will start a trend of drugged-up animal revenge movies, the answer is yes: the team behind Sharknado has already teased a summer release for a film called Attack of the Meth Gator.