Pitch Perfect star Elizabeth Banks will be winging her way to Ireland later this year to direct her latest film.
The 47-year-old, who appeared in all four Hunger Games movies, made her feature directorial debut with Pitch Perfect 2, which she also starred in, and has helmed numerous other projects since then.
Her last directorial offering, a reboot of classic '70s TV show Charlie's Angels, was widely panned by both critics and fans.
However, she is hoping Cocaine Bear, which is described as a “dark comedy” and will be shooting on location in Co Wicklow from August to October, will get a better reaction.
Astonishingly the movie, which will begin shooting in Wicklow in August, is based on the true story of Kentucky's legendary Cocaine Bear.
The unfortunate animal, which has been dubbed Pablo EskoBear, was a 175-pound black bear that died after consuming 40 kilos of pure cocaine which it found in the middle of the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia, USA.
The bear was stuffed and is now the state's most unlikely tourist attraction.
The bear’s discovery was linked to an even more bizarre case when Andrew Thornton II, a 40-year-old ex-narcotics cop and lawyer, was found dead on a driveway in Tennessee with a failed parachute on his back.
He was carrying thousands in cash, two pistols and was wearing night-vision goggles, a bulletproof vest, and Gucci loafers on his feet.
It was later discovered he'd jumped from a plane that he'd been using to drop duffel bags of cocaine – one of which the bear found. And the rest is tourist attraction history.
The movie is set for release in 2022 and will be distributed by Universal.
