Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Elizabeth Banks shared a behind-the-scenes secret regarding “Cocaine Bear.” According to her, the death of hiker Olaf (Kristofer Hivju) at the hands (or paws, rather) of the titular bear was originally going to play out far more gruesomely than what audiences saw in the final film. “We had some incredible prosthetics of him, they ripped off his whole face, and we had a close-up of it that is no longer in the movie,” she shared.
Although, as someone who appreciates gore in movies, Banks teased that perhaps this gnarlier version of Olaf’s death could make it into a hypothetical director’s cut. Then again, if she’s such a fan of gore at the cinema, why did she and the “Cocaine Bear” team revise Olaf’s death in the first place? She explained to the publication, “I just felt at that point the audience was on more of an emotional journey, and I didn’t want to distract from it.”
Perhaps someday fans will get to see Olaf’s original death, but until that day comes, all they can really do is cross their fingers that a cut of “Cocaine Bear” including it will come to light.
