'Cocaine Bear' writer has 'ideas' for an entire franchise of movies about animals doing drugs

At first glance, Cocaine Bear (now playing in theaters everywhere) doesn't exactly seem conducive to building an entire cinematic franchise of blockbuster IP. Sure, the bonkers concept makes for a mean and lean horror-comedy-thriller, but could you genuinely stretch it across multiple movies? Screenwriter Jimmy Warden (known for penning The Babysitter and its 2020 sequel) seems to think so.

As long as humans continue to underestimate the devastating power of the natural world, Warden recently argued during a conversation with Variety, there will always be ideas for the burgeoning genre in which an apex predator goes berserk after ingesting large quantities of illegal, mind-altering substances. And it wouldn't just be one sequel, "but many sequels," Warden said, jokingly throwing out the idea of launching the titular bear into outer space.

"For the sequels, I definitely have ideas for that," he continued. "The bear’s not the bad guy in this movie. What happened is a product of circumstance and everybody else’s poor decisions. I think that is a story that we can continue to tell over and over again. I’d be excited to tell it because there are some really good ideas that we have for the subsequent movies."

RELATED: The R-rating was never in question, but 'Cocaine Bear' producer Chris Miller says the title was

Translation: "Cocaine Shark" may not be as far-fetched as we might have thought. And while Universal Pictures has yet to officially green-light another installment, Cocaine Bear doesn't shy away from leaving the door open for more narcotic-based animal mayhem. No spoilers, though! To see what we're talking about, you're just going to have to see the movie, which has garnered near-universal acclaim from critics and audiences.

"I think there’s a dark and smaller version of this movie," Warden said. "And in order to warrant however many millions we were going to need to build this bear, we needed someone that was able to push the envelope in terms of tone and make sure that it was something that everybody was going to want to see. Not just horror fans, not just gore freaks. [Director Elizabeth Banks] took those comedic aspects and continued to build on them."

Essentially an '80s slasher flick with a bear standing in for the usual masked killer, the project is Banks' third time helming a feature-length film. The human side of the cast includes: Keri Russell (Antlers), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Godzilla: King of the Monsters), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Alden Ehrenreich (Solo: A Star Wars Story), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family), Brooklynn Prince (The One and Only Ivan), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (The Wire), Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones), Hannah Hoekstra (Faithfully Yours), Aaron Holliday (Euphoria), Margo Martindale (BoJack Horseman), and Ray Liotta (GoodFellas).

Cocaine Bear is now playing in theaters everywhere. Click here to purchase tickets.

Looking for more creature-based thrills in the meantime? Jordan Peele's Nope is currently streaming on Peacock.