Elizabeth Banks to direct thriller Cocaine Bear

Elizabeth Banks has landed her latest directorial project.

The Charlie's Angels filmmaker has signed up to direct Universal Pictures' Cocaine Bear, which is being described as a character-driven thriller inspired by true events that took place in Kentucky in 1985, according to Deadline.

The 175-pound black bear died of an apparent cocaine overdose after discovering a batch of the drug and it was found in northern Georgia among 40 opened plastic containers with traces of cocaine.

"The cocaine was apparently dropped from a plane piloted by Andrew Thornton, a convicted drug smuggler who died Sept. 11 in Knoxville, Tenn., because he was carrying too heavy a load while parachuting," reads a report in The New York Times in December 1985.

Cocaine Bear marks a reunion between Banks and Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who worked on The Lego Movie animated franchise together. Lord and Miller will produce the project alongside Banks and Max Handelman via their Brownstone Productions banner.

A source told the publication producers are aiming to get cameras rolling on the film, written by Jimmy Warden, by the summer.

The Hunger Games star confirmed the news by sharing the Deadline story on Twitter and adding bear, blood, money, and clapperboard emojis, and she shared a screengrab of a tweet written by Hocus Pocus actress Bette Midler about the concept.

"#ElizabethBanks is directing a movie based on a true story about a bear who consumed 70 pounds of #cocaine dropped into the woods by a smuggler in 1985. I don't know if there's a part that's right for me in it, Liz, but if the bear needs an acting coach, I have seen some s**t!" Midler joked.

Banks made her feature directorial debut with Pitch Perfect 2 in 2015.