PARAMOUNT-MARVEL DEAL: Paramount To Distribute Next Five Marvel Films

2ND UPDATE: I’m told that Marvel received from Paramount a so-called volume discount with regard to distibution fees under this new deal. For Iron Man, Paramount was paid 10% distribution fees by Marvel. Now that figure goes to down to near the 8% Paramount is paid by DreamWorks Animation.

EXCLUSIVE: I know that Paramount was thrilled with picking up those fat distribution fees during the enormous $574 million global success of Iron Man this past summer. Now it’s got a lock on Marvel Studios’ coming product which should prove successful at the box office if the publicly traded indie’s creative chief Kevin Feige doesn’t screw it up. I’m told that Paramount and Marvel have done a big overall deal calling for the movie major to distribute Marvel’s next self-produced films on a worldwide basis. The deal includes theatrical distribution in foreign territoies previously serviced by Marvel through local distribution entities (Japan, Germany, France, Spain, and Australia/New Zealand). The pics are Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010) and 3 (unscheduled), Thor (July 16, 2010), Captain America (May 6, 2011), and The Avengers (July 15, 2011).

10:00 AM UPDATE: The announcement just came out:

“Coming off of Iron Man’s incredible success this summer, we could not be more excited about extending our relationship with Marvel,” said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures. “Marvel’s iconic brand, its popular characters and its proven ability to create compelling and visually spellbinding films complement Paramount’s great history of filmmaking.  We look forward to a long and successful run together.”

“Paramount is an excellent partner and an outstanding global distributor,” said David Maisel, Chairman of Marvel Studios. “Through our experience on Iron Man, Paramount has demonstrated a passion and ability to release Marvel properties theatrically, allowing us to focus on making great movies for the largest audience possible.”