Going Like Sixty
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Skid marks aside, the way to tell if a movie will be a trend setter is to watch the merchandising. Bob Iger, Disney CEO, says Cars is selling more merchandise now than five years ago when it was released. Because of that fact, Disney will spend more time and money to keep the profitable franchise moving along on all eight cylinders.  But the recent Disney (nyse: DIS - news - people ) franchise that Iger believes has the greatest long-term viability may come as a bit of a surprise: the 2006 movie Cars. The film did well at the box office but was widely viewed as a creative step down from previous Pixar features like Toy Story and The Incredibles.
So why does Disney think Cars has staying power?
"We're selling more merchandise now than in the year that the film was released,'' Iger said."We've clearly struck a nerve."
As a result, Disney will be investing more in the Cars franchise. An online virtual world is in the works and it's "a relatively good bet that ultimately they'll be a sequel," he said.
Cars is also getting Disney's ultimate vote of confidence in a new franchise: the construction of a theme park attraction. "Cars Land" is scheduled to open at Disney's California Adventure park (next door to Disneyland) in 2012. A smaller Cars-themed attraction opened last year at Disneyland Resort Paris and "I'm fairly certain you'll see more creativity and investment in terms of physical attractions at our parks [related to] that franchise,'' Iger said.
Will last year's Pixar hit Ratatouille get the franchise treatment as well? Although the movie was recently nominated for five Academy Awards, "that wouldn't be one we would consider a true franchise in terms of its leverageability across multiple businesses or its ability to drive huge value over a long period of time,'' Iger said.
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