Box Office: ‘Cocaine Bear’ Sniffs Up $2M in Thursday Previews

Cocaine Bear — director Elizabeth Banks’ daring dark comedy — sniffed up $2 million in Thursday previews from 3,000 theaters at the domestic box office. Shows began at 5 p.m.

Inspired by a true story, the Universal Pictures movie is about a drug smuggling operation that goes horribly awry when a 500-pound American black bear ingests a duffel bag of cocaine and goes on a killing rampage in a small Georgia town.

Banks directed the high-profile genre pic from a script by Jimmy Warden. She also produced alongside Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Max Handelman, Brian Duffield and Aditya Sood.

Cocaine Bear stars Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Christian Convery, Alden Ehrenreich, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Hoekstra and Aaron Holliday alongside Margo Martindale and Ray Liotta.

Of the major Hollywood studios, Universal has kept releasing a steady stream number of mid-range movies throughout the pandemic era. Cocaine Bear cost $35 million to produce before marketing and is expected to do well among younger moviegoers, a demo which has fueled the box office recovery.

By Friday, Banks’ film will be playing in a more than 3,500 theaters domestically.

Cocaine Bear is expected to debut in the $15 million to $17 million range, although some tracking services show it coming in higher. Wherever it lands, it will come in second for the weekend behind holdover Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the Marvel and Disney superhero pic that’s heading into its second weekend.

Box office analysts will be watching to see how much Quantumania drops after debuting to a franchise-best $120 million over Presidents Day weekend, including $105.5 million for the three days.

In addition to Cocaine Bear, Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company’s Jesus Revolution is opening this weekend. The faith-based film has grossed $3.3 million from early screenings and Thursday previews, and is expected to clear $6 million to $7 million though Sunday.

Feb. 24, 9:50 a.m.: Updated with grosses for Jesus Revolution.