As Walt Disney Co. prepares for this week's release of "Cars 2," the entertainment giant is betting the movie's main character, Lightning McQueen, can race for years into the play rooms, lunch boxes and even the bathtubs of young boys around the world.

Disney says "Cars 2" is on track to sell more tie-in goods than any single previous film, surpassing by a wide margin the current record holder, "Toy Story 3," which last year sold $2.8 billion of merchandise.

In a maverick marketing move, Paramount is joining forces with Twitter to host nationwide sneaks of Super 8 on Thursday, a full day before the sci-fi pic officially opens in theaters.

The announcement means that Super 8 is launching a day early, albeit with a limited footprint.