Cars are the stars of Hollywood's summer

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

LOS ANGELES � Times are getting tougher for A-listers who aren't built like Mack trucks. Literally.

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  Disney/Pixar

  Zoom zoom: Holley Shiftwell (voiced by Emily Mortimer) is one of the four-wheeled stars of Cars 2, which pulled in $66 million in its first week.

Disney/Pixar

Zoom zoom: Holley Shiftwell (voiced by Emily Mortimer) is one of the four-wheeled stars of Cars 2, which pulled in $66 million in its first week.

While top-tier stars such as Angelina Jolie and Jim Carrey are seeing dwindling returns at the box office this summer, cars have become Hollywood's hottest stars.

Autos began revving ticket sales at the end of April, when the gas-happy motorists of Fast Five raced to $208 million, making it the third-highest-grossing film of the year.

Last weekend, the animated racers from Cars 2 opened to $66 million, the fourth-biggest June debut ever. The opening puts the Pixar sequel on track to earn more than $200 million.

And today, the Autobots from Transformers: Dark of the Moon arrive in theaters, with the film expected to cruise to No. 1 this weekend. Analysts project that the monster alien trucks will take in at least $500 million worldwide.

Compare that to Jolie and Carrey, whose films underperformed despite big budgets and ad campaigns. Jolie's Kung Fu Panda 2 earned a solid-if-unspectacular $153 million. The birds from Carrey's Mr. Popper's Penguins haven't made the film soar ? the $55 million comedy has done $39 million since its release June 17.

"We love cars in the movies for the same reason we love cars in real life," says Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com's box-office division. "They are a cultural touchstone. Everyone can relate because people have either owned or driven one." Beyond that, he says, "they are a perfect vessel for technological gadgetry and innovations."

And marketing. Disney could collect more than $2.8 billion in toys and marketing tie-ins from Cars 2, according to a recent analysis by financial services firm Cowen & Co.

But Cars 2 director John Lasseter, who worked as a Chevy parts delivery boy when he was a teen in Los Angeles, says the appeal is simpler.

"Cars are cool," says Lasseter, who accepted no automotive tie-ins for the film. "I got that from my father (a parts manager). I got to see these great muscle cars ? Camaros, Chevelle SS 396s. We still have that love affair. It can be such an important part of who you are as a person."

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