Disney Buys Rights To And Announces Release Date For ‘Iron Man 3′

With the acquisition of Marvel by Disney for a gabazillion dollars, it was clear that Disney had a longterm goal in mind. But Paramount already had the rights for worldwide marketing and distribution for ‘Iron Man’ and ‘The Avengers’ since it came before the deal was made. Well, Disney has now fixed that and more.

Disney has announced that they have bought back worldwide distribution and marketing rights for the movies ‘Iron Man 3′ and ‘The Avengers’ from Paramount Pictures for a sum of $115 million. ‘Thor’ and “Captain America’ will still be handled by Paramount, though. The deal is great for Disney who wants to control directly easily the biggest movie of the Marvel catalogue and also made it clear that ‘Iron Man 3′ was on its way. Well, it is.

Just hours after that, Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista have announced that Iron Man 3 will hit theaters on May 3rd 2013. Following the pattern of a May release, Disney is playing it pretty much by the books here. Hope it goes back to ‘Iron Man’ in terms of quality and isn’t an ad for “The Avengers 2′ or something.

We’ll keep you updated.

BURBANK, Calif. – October 18, 2010 – The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios announced they have reached an agreement under which Paramount will transfer its worldwide marketing and distribution rights to Disney for Marvel Studios’ The Avengers and Iron Man 3. Paramount will remain the worldwide distributor of the upcoming films, Thor and Captain America, as well as the previously released Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

Under terms of the new deal, Disney will pay Paramount $115 million for the transfer of the distribution rights to Iron Man 3 and The Avengers to be paid on the theatrical release dates. These monies will serve as a minimum guarantee against the distribution fees.

“In completing this agreement, Disney will now assume worldwide marketing and distribution of The Avengers and Iron Man 3 and leverage these two highly-anticipated films across the multiple global platforms of The Walt Disney Company,” said Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. “We appreciate the tremendous momentum that Paramount established with these iconic Marvel characters and look forward to propelling the brand even further in the coming years.”

“Five years ago, when Paramount and Marvel made our initial deal, both our businesses were in very different places,” said Brad Grey, Chairman & CEO of Paramount Pictures. “We are grateful for the partnership we have had with the terrific Marvel team over these years and proud of the work we have done together. Today, this new agreement is the right deal for Paramount, for Marvel and for Disney. We look forward to working together on Thor and Captain America, and we wish Disney and Marvel the utmost success, in what we know will be a very productive and wide-ranging partnership.”

“Paramount has been a wonderful partner in helping Marvel Studios bring our characters to the big screen,” said Alan Fine, Office of the President, Marvel Worldwide, Inc. “This agreement makes sense now that Marvel is part of The Walt Disney Company.”

Paramount will release Marvel Entertainment’s Thor and Captain America worldwide beginning on May 6 and July 22 of 2011, respectively. The Avengers will be licensed to Epix under Paramount’s existing pay television arrangement.