After a difficult 2025, which saw a new original film, Elio, flop both critically and commercially, Pixar bounced back this year, beginning with the brilliant Hoppers, which stars Piper Curda as the voice of an animal lover who uses groundbreaking technology to become a robotic beaver, looking to save a local habitat. Then came the animation team’s biggest release in years, as Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), and the rest of the gang returned for the long-awaited Toy Story 5.
After earning wonderful reviews from critics and being considered a return to form for a franchise that faltered in its fourth outing, Toy Story 5 was also a box office smash. The animated favorite followed in the footsteps of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Antoine Fuqua’s musical biopic, Michael, by becoming the third film of 2026 to make over $1 billion at the box office. Toy Story 5 will be hoping to continue Pixar’s incredible trend of earning nominations at the Academy Awards come early 2027.
One such Pixar film to have earned nominations in both the Best Original Song and Best Animated Feature Film of the Year categories is 2006’s Cars, which didn’t leave with any Oscar gold but did take home the Best Animated Film prize at the Golden Globes. Owen Wilson‘s iconic Lightning McQueen became an instant hit with global audiences, scoring almost $500 million at the box office and spawning a pair of sequels and two spin-offs. Two decades later, it’s time to start your engines once again, as Cars returns to the big screen in celebration of its 20th anniversary. The film returns to theaters on September 4, coinciding with Lightning McQueen Day on September 5.
Collider Exclusive · Universe Personality Quiz Which Iconic Universe Do You Belong in the Most? Star Wars · Lord of the Rings · Harry Potter · Game of Thrones · Star Trek
Five legendary universes. Five completely different visions of what the world could be — or already was. One of them is the world your instincts, your values, and your particular way of existing were built for. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🚀Star Wars
💍Lord of the Rings
🧙Harry Potter
👑Game of Thrones
🖖Star Trek
01
What gives your life its deepest sense of meaning? Every universe is built around a different answer to this question.
02
Which kind of world do you most want to inhabit? The environment shapes who you become. Choose carefully.
03
How do you prefer your conflicts resolved? The shape of a world’s conflicts tells you everything about its soul.
04
Who do you want beside you when things get difficult? Your ideal companions reveal the world you were made for.
05
What is your relationship with power? How you seek, wield, or resist power is the map of who you are.
06
How does your universe treat good and evil? A world’s moral architecture tells you more about it than any map.
07
What role would you naturally fall into? Every universe has archetypes. Which one fits you without trying?
08
What do you ultimately believe about the future? The answer to this is the clearest window into which universe already lives inside you.
Your Universe Has Been Chosen You Belong In…
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You are drawn to the moral clarity of a universe where hope itself is a form of resistance.
You’d find your people in the Rebellion — a ragtag coalition of true believers held together by conviction more than resources.
Star Wars is fundamentally a story about ordinary people choosing to matter in an extraordinary conflict — and that is exactly your kind of story.
The Force may or may not be with you. But the will to use it for something larger than yourself certainly is.
Middle-earth
Lord of the Rings
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
Middle-earth is a world of ancient wonder, deep friendship, and a darkness that only retreats when enough small acts of courage accumulate.
You would thrive here because you value the fellowship more than the glory — the road more than the arrival.
Tolkien’s universe rewards patience, loyalty, and the willingness to carry something heavy across a very long distance.
Those are not burdens to you. They are simply how you move through the world.
The Wizarding World
Harry Potter
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
The Wizarding World is a place of wonder hidden in plain sight, where learning is transformative and the bonds you form at school follow you into every battle.
You would flourish here because you take both the magic and the friendships seriously — and you understand that one without the other is incomplete.
Harry Potter’s universe ultimately rewards those who choose to stand for something even when standing is terrifying.
That choice — made quietly, without guarantee — is something you understand completely.
Westeros · The Known World
Game of Thrones
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
Westeros is a world that rewards intelligence, adaptability, and the willingness to understand that every alliance is also a negotiation.
You would survive here — possibly thrive here — because you don’t confuse the world as it is with the world as you’d like it to be.
Game of Thrones is a story about what happens when the idealists and the realists collide. You are sharp enough to know which one lasts longer.
Winter always comes. You are already prepared.
The United Federation of Planets
Star Trek
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
Star Trek is a universe where the questions matter as much as the answers, and where encountering something utterly alien is cause for wonder rather than fear.
You would belong here because you are fundamentally optimistic about what intelligence and decency can achieve — while being honest about how hard that achievement is.
The Federation is the universe’s most ambitious thought experiment: what if we actually got better?
You don’t just hope that’s possible. You think it’s the only thing worth working toward.
Another ‘Cars’ Project Is on the Way
The return of the 2006 original to theaters is to be followed by the expansion of the Cars franchise. Scheduled to debut on Disney Jr. in 2027 before moving to Disney+, Cars: Lightning Racers is an exciting new preschool animated series that features a new animation style and a blend of new and returning voices. Perhaps the most exciting is the confirmation that Wilson will be back to voice Lightning McQueen, with Larry the Cable Guy also returning as the lovable Mater.
Cars returns to theaters on September 4. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for more stories.
