The Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures en Marvel Studios zijn overeengekomen dat Paramount de rechten voor de distributie en marketing overdraagt aan Disney m.b.t. tot The Avengers (2012) and Iron Man 3, films van Marvel Studios. Paramount behoudt de rechten voor Thor (2011), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) en de eerder verschenen Iron Man (2008) en Iron Man 2 (2010). In ruil voor de deal krijgt Paramount $115 miljoen. Maar er was opvallender nieuws!

Er werd namelijk ook een releasedatum bekend gemaakt voor Iron Man 3. De film met Robert Downey Jr. in de titelrol moet namelijk op 3 mei 2013 in de States in première gaan. Verdere details zijn nog onbekend.

Rich Ross van The Walt Disney Studios over de deal: "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. 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."

Brad Grey, een pief bij Paramount Pictures: "Five years ago, when Paramount and Marvel made our initial deal, both our businesses were in very different places. 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."

En tot slot Alan Fine van Marvel Worldwide, Inc: "Paramount has been a wonderful partner in helping Marvel Studios bring our characters to the big screen. This agreement makes sense now that Marvel is part of The Walt Disney Company."