There was only a matter of time before speculation of a third Cars film started. While the first two Cars films are easily the most divisive films in the Pixar catalog, they have their dedicated fans. The franchise is also a beast when it comes to merchandise, with Cars toys and other tie-ins bringing in billions. After the release of Cars 2, new shorts have steadily been released, but there has been no news on a continuation of the films’ story of Lightning McQueen, Mater, and the town of Radiator Springs. Now, an actor who also served as a consultant for the films has stated that a new Cars film is in development. Read on for more details after the break.
Michael Wallis, who voices the Sheriff in the town of Radiator Springs, spoke with Route 66 News (via The Rotoscopers), and briefly mentioned that Pixar is developing Cars 3. At the end of a 25-minute interview about Route 66, Wallis states:
We did Cars 2, which I’m glad to skip over because I didn’t particularly care for it, but Cars 3, we’re coming back to the road. And we’re coming back to 66 and to 99.
The 99 that he is referencing is Route 99, which runs along the west coast of the United States. According to Wallis, Cars 3 will return the characters from the first film to a story along the lines of the first film. Cars 2 dropped the characters into a complex spy plotline, veering from the small story of the original film.
It is difficult to know the authenticity of Wallis’ remarks. Being a major consultant on the first film, specifically with anything having to do with Route 66, it would make sense that Pixar would turn to him for some help with another film in the franchise having to do with a different major highway. However, the studio also develops concepts that do not always make it to the screen, so without us knowing how far along Pixar may be with a possible idea for a Cars 3 (are those enough conditions for you?), we cannot yet confirm that a third Cars film is making its way through the pipeline. Let us wait for at least one more source before we take this as a guarantee.
The truth is, though, Pixar president Ed Catmull recently discussed the studio’s strategy to release an original film every year (which already has missed its mark with the delay of The Good Dinosaur into 2015, leaving Pixar without a film in 2014), with an additional film (a sequel or prequel) hitting every two years. We knew Finding Dory, a sequel to the 2003 smash Finding Nemo, was being developed, but had no news of any other sequel. It is certainly possible that Cars 3 is the sequel that will follow sometime after Finding Dory. We await further confirmation.
