Cars 3

Cars 3 is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated epic auto racing sports comedy film produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Brian Fee, the screenplay was written by Kiel Murray, Bob Peterson and Mike Rich. The film is the sequel to Cars and Cars 2. The returning voices of Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt and Larry the Cable Guy are joined by Cristela Alonzo, Chris Cooper, Armie Hammer, Nathan Fillion, Kerry Washington and Lea DeLaria, in addition to a dozen NASCAR personalities. In the film, Lightning McQueen sets out to prove to a new generation of high tech race cars that he is still the best race car in the world.

The film was released on June 16, 2017, has grossed over $382 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews, with many critics considering it an improvement over its predecessor, as well as praising its emotional story and animation.

Plot
Lightning McQueen, now a seven-time Piston Cup racing legend, finds himself overshadowed by Jackson Storm, an arrogant rookie who belongs to a new generation of racers that use the latest technology to improve their racing performance. This causes McQueen's fellow veterans to either be retired or fired by their sponsors to make way for the new rookies. In the final race of the season, as he tries to catch up to Storm and the other leaders, his tire blows-out and he suffers a violent, nearly fatal rollover crash, leaving him badly injured, while Storm becomes the new Piston Cup Champion.

Four months later, while recovering in Radiator Springs, McQueen isolates himself from his friends, and spends his time watching footage of his late mentor, Doc Hudson. Confronted by his girlfriend, Sally Carrera, McQueen fears being forced into retirement as Doc was. Rusty and Dusty, the owners of McQueen's Rust-eze racing team, send him to a new state-of-the-art racing center, much to his surprise. When he arrives, he learns that they have sold Rust-eze to a new owner, Sterling, who assigns him to work with trainer Cruz Ramirez. McQueen eventually becomes impatient and annoyed with Cruz's methods, and attempts to use a high-tech racing simulator, only to cause severe damage to the equipment.

Convinced that McQueen is no longer capable of winning, Sterling is ready to take him off the racing circuit, and use him for product endorsements. McQueen offers a deal instead – if McQueen wins the first race of the upcoming season in Florida, he can decide when he retires; otherwise, he will retire immediately. Sterling accepts the deal, but assigns Cruz to work with him one-on-one. Instead of improving his own top speed, McQueen spends most of the day helping Cruz get used to racing on the sandy coastline outside of the training center. For inspiration, they travel to a dirt track on which Doc raced, but inadvertently end up competing in a demolition derby, which Cruz ultimately wins. Distraught at the apparent waste of training time, McQueen rages at Cruz and, in the process, accidentally breaks her trophy. Upset, Cruz reveals that she had wanted to race professionally just like McQueen all her life, but never started a race, because she felt outclassed. She resigns as McQueen's trainer, and starts back to the training center.

Learning that Storm has set a new lap record, McQueen calls his best friend, Mater, for advice. Mater suggests that he should track down Doc's mentor, Smokey. McQueen catches up to Cruz and convinces her to come along, and the two travel to Doc's hometown of Thomasville, Georgia, where they meet Smokey and several of Doc's old friends. Smokey reveals that even though Doc never raced again after his crash, he found a new happiness in training McQueen. After Lightning McQueen accepts that he will never be as fast as Storm, Smokey and his friends teach McQueen and Cruz how to drive smarter than Storm, with Cruz serving as a sparring partner for Lightning. However, during a final practice race, Cruz suddenly overtakes McQueen and he has a flashback to his crash, shaking his confidence.

At the race in Florida, McQueen is encouraged by Smokey and his friends, and gradually pushes up through the ranks. Still convinced McQueen cannot win, Sterling spots Cruz in the pits, and orders her to return to the racing centre to begin prepping another racer for the following week’s event, despite her wanting to stay and watch the race. McQueen overhears the exchange and remembers that Cruz had wanted to race because of him. He decides that Cruz is the answer to beating Storm. When a crash occurs, McQueen uses the opportunity to pit. Entering the pits, he has his pit crew outfit Cruz for racing, complete with his racing number, giving her the chance to finally race. Cruz uses McQueen’s coaching and Smokey’s advice to catch the leaders. Feeling threatened, Storm tries to intimidate Cruz, causing her to lose her confidence. When McQueen tells her that Storm tried to intimidate her because he was scared of her, she gains it back again. She later catches up to Storm and attempts to overtake him, but Storm pins her against the wall. She uses Doc's old trick and vaults over the wall, taking first place. After the race, Sterling tries to persuade her to race for him but she turns him down, accepting an offer from Tex Dinoco to race for his Dinoco racing team. When Sterling tells McQueen he needs him for a photoshoot, the Jumbotron updates, also showing McQueen as the winner alongside Cruz, allowing him to decide whether he keeps racing.

Later, at an exhibition race in Radiator Springs, McQueen and Cruz reveal they have adopted Doc's old racing colors and number, respectively, to honor his memory. Tex Dinoco informs the group that he has bought Rust-eze from Sterling, and McQueen decides to continue racing and train Cruz as well.

In a post-credits scene, Mater, at his junkyard, tries to answer an incoming call from his phone. Somehow, he accidentally touches his reception antenna and his phone goes dead, much to his dismay.

Cast
• Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, a legendary Piston Cup veteran who lives in Route 66's Radiator Springs; racer for Rust-eze; #95.

• Cristela Alonzo as Cruz Ramirez, Lightning McQueen's trainer and racing technician, who always longed to be a racer, but lacked confidence. She later becomes the racer for Dinoco; #51.

• Chris Cooper as Smokey, Doc's former mechanic and crew chief, who helps Lightning McQueen train for the Florida 500.

• Nathan Fillion as Sterling, a rich business car who runs the elite training facility Rust-eze Racing Center.

• Larry the Cable Guy as Mater, a jolly tow truck and Holley Shiftwell’s best friend and Lightning McQueen's best friend.

• Armie Hammer as Jackson Storm, McQueen's new racing rival. The face of the newer generation of high-tech racers, he threatens to displace McQueen as the top racer, and McQueen's career; racer for IGNTR; #2.0.

• Tom and Ray Magliozzi as Rusty and Dusty Rust-eze, respectively, the owners of Rust-eze. Following Tom's death in 2014, unused archive recordings from the first film were used for Rusty's lines.

• Tony Shalhoub as Luigi, a Fiat 500.

• Bonnie Hunt as Sally Carrera, a Porsche 996, and Lightning McQueen's girlfriend.

• Lea DeLaria as Miss Fritter, an intimidating demolition derby-inspired monster school bus at the Thunder Hollow demolition derby.

• Kerry Washington as Natalie Certain, a statistical analyst.

• Bob Costas as Bob Cutlass, a broadcaster at the race track.

• Margo Martindale as Louise "Barnstormer" Nash, a Piston Cup legend who is a 1950 Nash Ambassador.

• Darrell Waltrip as Darrell Cartrip, a broadcaster working aside with Bob.

• Isiah Whitlock Jr. as River Scott, one of the legendary Piston Cup racers who is a friend of Smokey, and a 1938 Dirt Track Racer.

• Bob Peterson as Chick Hicks, a former Piston Cup racer and ex-rival of Lightning McQueen, who now works as an RSN announcer and hosts his own TV show, Chick's Picks. He was previously voiced by Michael Keaton, in the first film.

• * Peterson also voices Dr. Damage, an ambulance monster truck and one of the competitors at Thunder Hollow; though the character is uncredited.

• Guido Quaroni as Guido, a forklift who is Luigi's best friend and assistant.

• John Ratzenberger as Mack, a 1985 Mack Super-Liner who is Lightning's transport.

• Kyle Petty as Cal Weathers, one of Lightning's racing friends, and a veteran racer for Dinoco.

• Lewis Hamilton as Hamilton, a voice command assistant to Cruz Ramirez. Hamilton previously voiced himself (as a WGP racer) in the second film.

• Lloyd Sherr as Fillmore, a Volkswagen Bus. Fillmore was previously voiced by George Carlin who died in 2008.

• Junior Johnson as Junior "Midnight" Moon, a former Piston Cup racer who is a 1938 Ford Standard Coupe; #11.

• Ray Evernham as Ray Reverham, Jackson Storm's crew chief.

• Paul Newman as Doc Hudson, Lightning McQueen’s late mentor. He appears in the film with unused archive recordings of Newman from the first film. After he died in September 2008, the character was written in a flashback for his final film 11 years ago.

• Cheech Marin as Ramone, a Chevrolet Impala Lowrider, and Flo's husband.

• Humpy Wheeler as Tex Dinoco, the owner of Dinoco.

• Katherine Helmond as Lizzie, a Ford Model T.

• Paul Dooley as Sarge, a Willys Jeep.

• Jenifer Lewis as Flo, a Motorama show car, and Ramone's wife.

• Shannon Spake as Shannon Spokes, an RSN reporter who is not afraid to ask questions to racers.

• Madeleine McGraw as Maddy McGear, a young Axxelo Microlux who is Lightning's biggest fan.

• Michael Wallis as Sheriff, a seasoned 1949 Mercury Eight police car.

• Mike Joy as Mike Joyride, the host on Lightning's radio.

• Jeff Gordon as Jeff Gorvette, a World Grand Prix competitor who now works as a Piston Cup announcer for races.

• Daniel Suárez as Danny Swervez, a next-gen racer working for Octain Gain; #19.

• Ryan Blaney as Ryan "Inside" Laney, a next-gen racer working for Blinkr; #21.

• Bubba Wallace as Bubba Wheelhouse, a next-gen racer working for Transberry Juice; #6.

• Chase Elliott as Chase Racelott, a next-gen racer working for Vitoline; #24.

• Richard Petty as Strip "The King" Weathers, who has retired and now acts as crew chief for his nephew Cal.

• Andra Day as Sweet Tea, a forklift who works and sings at Cotter Pin Bar & Grill.

• Roscoe, a host in Thunder Hollow, is uncredited.

Production
Development on Cars 3 began in 2011 after the release of Cars 2. On August 17, 2013, Michael Wallis (voice of Sheriff in the films) told radio listeners that Cars 3 would go back to Route 66, and would also include Route 99. At the Disney stockholder meeting on March 18, 2014, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Pixar had begun pre-production on Cars 3. In October 2014, Pixar's chief creative officer John Lasseter revealed at the Tokyo International Film Festival that the film would feature a tribute to Hayao Miyazaki's film The Castle of Cagliostro, in a form of an old Citroën 2CV.

On October 8, 2015, the film's release date was announced to be June 16, 2017. On June 10, 2016, during an interview, John Lasseter, director of the previous Cars films, promised a very emotional story, similar in tone to the first film. Co-writer Kiel Murray, who also co-wrote the original Cars, said of the return to the series roots, "With these franchises you always want to know who it's about. The first movie was about McQueen, and the second movie was a sort of off-ramp to the Mater story. We wanted to get back to the McQueen story. When we looked at what would be next for him, we wondered what that would be like both as an athlete, and also for what he was dealing with in the rest of his life."

On January 5, 2017, it was announced that Armie Hammer and Cristela Alonzo would voice Jackson Storm and Cruz Ramirez, respectively. Two months later, Nathan Fillion, Kerry Washington and Lea Delaria joined the cast.

Release
Cars 3 was released in theaters on June 16, 2017, in the United States, in 3D and selected IMAX theaters, accompanied by the Pixar short film Lou. The film had a special screening for the NASCAR industry in Kannapolis, North Carolina on May 23, 2017. The world premiere was held in Anaheim, California on June 10, 2017.

Home Media
Cars 3 was released on Digital HD on October 24, 2017 and was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on November 7, 2017, by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

Box office
Cars 3 grossed $152.9 million in the United States and Canada and $229.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $382.8 million, against a production budget of $175 million.

In North America, Cars 3 was released alongside Rough Night, 47 Meters Down and All Eyez on Me, and was projected to gross $55–60 million from 4,256 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $2.8 million from Thursday night previews and $19.5 million on its first day. It went on to open to $53.7 million, finishing first at the box office and dethroning two-time first-place finisher Wonder Woman. Cars 3 had the lowest opening of the series, but nevertheless was the 16th Pixar film to debut at number one. In its second weekend, the film grossed $24.1 million, dropping to third place, behind Transformers: The Last Knight and Wonder Woman. In its third weekend the film made $9.7 million ($14.1 million over the five-day 4th of July holiday weekend), dropping to 5th.

Internationally, the film made $21.3 million from its opening in 23 markets, which was 9% more than Cars 2 and 29% more than Cars. The film opened in China on August 25 and grossed $10.8 million over its debut weekend. The biggest markets in terms of total earnings are China ($20.8 million), followed by France ($19.5 million), Japan ($16.1 million), Mexico ($15.6 million), and the UK ($15.2 million).

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 68% based on 182 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Cars 3 has an unexpectedly poignant story to go with its dazzling animation, suggesting Pixar's most middle-of-the-road franchise may have a surprising amount of tread left." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 59 out of 100, based on reviews from 41 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

In his review for Variety, Owen Gleiberman wrote, "Cars 3 is a friendly, rollicking movie made with warmth and dash, and to the extent that it taps our primal affection for this series, it more than gets the job done. Yet in many ways it’s the tasteful version of a straight-to-DVD (or streaming) sequel." David Fear of Rolling Stone gave the film a positive review, saying: "There's an emotional resonance to this story about growing old, chasing glory days and the joy of passing the baton that leaves the other two films choking on its digitally rendered dust. The end goal this time out isn't just to sell a few more toys and Lightning McQueen lunchboxes. It's actually tapping into something deeper than a corporate bottom line." Mike Ryan of Uproxx called the film 'The Rocky III Of The Cars Franchise,' and wrote "There’s a hint of sadness that seems to be present throughout Cars 3 that gives it a little more weight than the previous installments."

Alonso Duralde of TheWrap gave the film a mixed review, saying: "As a spawner of merchandise, Cars 3 fires on all pistons but, as a movie, it's a harmless but never stimulating 109 minutes." Vicky Roach gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying: "Returning to the iconic, backroads nostalgia of the original film, Cars 3 puts the flashy, unpopular middle film squarely in its rear vision mirror. The route that the filmmakers take might be familiar, but after gunning it, they take the corners like pros."

Soundtracks
There are two soundtracks released for the third film. The original motion picture soundtrack features rock/pop songs featured in the film, while the original score soundtrack features the score composed and conducted by Randy Newman.

Video game
A tie-in video game has been announced to accompany the film's release. It was developed by Avalanche Software, which was shut down by Disney in 2016, but was acquired and revived by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, it was released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on June 13, 2017, in North America, in Europe and Australasia on July 14, 2017, and in Japan on July 20, 2017. As Disney no longer develops and publishes video games after the release of Disney Infinity 3.0, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment published the tie-in game.

Possible Sequel
Regarding a possible Cars 4, Cars 3 producers Kevin Reher and Andrea Warren stated speaking to Cinema Blend that "If there's a good story to tell I mean our heads kinda break after having gotten this one done, like oh my god what could you do the further adventures of? But like any sequel, from Toy Story 4 to The Incredibles 2, as long as there's a good story to tell it's worth investing, we do love these characters, we love them as much as the public does." Regarding which character would be the main protagonist in the film, Reher and Warren stated that "if Cruz is a breakout character, kind of like Mater was", "she would be involved in a 4". Owen Wilson stated at a Cars 3 press event that possible stories have been discussed for a Cars 4, though he would personally like for a fourth Cars film to delve into aspects of the thriller genre, akin to Cars 2.