Nobody likes to watch people getting eaten by lions.
Moviegoers chomp on sharks movies likeJawsandMeg, but other treacherous animal movies arent prime to high openings, i.e.
Watch on Deadline
How did Universal beat the odds and make this work?
Keri Russell as Sari in Cocaine Bear, directed by Elizabeth Banks.Universal Pictures
Gosh, that doesnt appear to still be true.
So how does a ferocious bear movie work at the box office?
Laughs also worked in favor ofM3GANandViolent Nightssuccess.
Ranking other bears by how badly@cocainebearwould kick their assCocaine Bear (and me!)
But Uni didnt sell the pic on them.
She became the poster girl inSin City-style one sheets and billboards.
In the movie, the beast goes on a rampage, taking out cops, criminals, and hikers.
Cokey wasted no time jumping into the conversation, including a reply by AMC Theaters for a Bear/Shark showdown.
That exchange received more than 50,000 views and 1,000 likes.
The trick for Uni going forward was maintaining that awareness and interest.
The trailer ran in front of other Uni genre picsViolent NightandM3GAN.
ARise of Pablo Escobear 8Bitgamealso launched, whereby users become Cocaine Bear chasing victims around in aPac-maninspired video game.
Similar toM3GAN,the prediction is thatCocaine Bears long-term box office prospects are beating its audience exits.
One projection forCocaine Bearstateside is north of $60M.
