Disney has bought the distribution rights to The Avengers and Iron Man 3 from Paramount, effectively ending Paramount’s distribution deal for Marvel-produced movies early.  The price was $115 million, an advance that could go up depending on the take from the two films. 

Paramount will distribute next year’s Captain America and Thor movies as planned, and will continue to have rights to Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2.  The pay TV deal for The Avengers will remain with Epix under Paramount’s existing arrangement. 

Disney Chairman Rich Ross said of the new arrangement, “Disney will… leverage these two highly-anticipated films across the multiple global platforms of the Walt Disney Company,” which we interpret to mean that Disney will now be able to double- and triple-dip on these films using Disney-owned channels, rather than just getting a fee from Paramount.

Iron Man 3 has now been given a release date of May 13, 2013.   Avengers is set for May 4, 2012.