'Iron Man 3' and 'The Avengers' get release dates

10/18/2010 by Kristina Lopez

After a deal was worked out between Disney and Paramount Studios over the Marvel franchises, Iron Man 3 and the long awaited Avengers films get official release dates.

The star studded Avengers film will hit theaters on May 4, 2012, while Iron Man 3 is aiming for a May 3, 2013 release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The deal officially hands off worldwide distribution rights of the films from Paramount Studios to Disney, who purchased Marvel $4.24 billion last year. Paramount will be able to retain the rights for Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger because of a deal that was in place prior to Marvel's purchase.

Today, this new agreement is the right deal for Paramount, for Marvel and for Disney," said Paramount CEO Brad Grey in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "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.

After months of speculation, the main cast of The Avengers was confirmed as the stars stepped out before some 6,000 fans at the end of a Marvel Studios presentation at Comic-Con 2010 in San Diego, California.

Samuel L. Jackson will reprise his role from Iron Man as Nick Fury, Scarlett Johansson will return as the Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth will star as Thor, Chris Evans plays as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. will continue playing Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo will debut as The Incredible Hulk, and Jeremy Renner will play Hawkeye.

Hemsworth is also set to play Thor in a spin-off film by the same name which is, set for release on May 6, 2011. Natalie Portman, who made headlines on Friday with striking newly-released photos from her new dark ballet film Black Swan, stars as Jane Foster. A Captain America movie starring Evans is set for release on 22 July 2011.

Iron Man 2, the sequel to the hit 2008 film, has made more than $128 million at the U.S. box office since it was released on May 7. Its production budget was about $200 million.

"I'm writing and directing it," Whedon recently told OnTheRedCarpet.com at the pop culture convention. "There will be some avenging that takes place during the film and that's about all I can tell you. I think it's well-known that Jeremy Renner is joining us as Hawkeye, which is so exciting for me and the rest of the cast."

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