FX, Marvel Studios in Basic-Cable Movie Deal

LOS ANGELES, March 17: Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of
Marvel Entertainment, has scored a deal with News Corporation’s FX, allowing
the basic-cable network to air five Marvel self-produced features, including the
upcoming The Iron Man.

This marks Marvel Studios’ first basic-cable distribution
agreement for its self-produced movies. Under the terms of the deal, Marvel
Studios will provide FX with the rights to five of the studio’s upcoming
feature films, including this summer’s Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk,
with the remaining films to be named by Marvel at a later date. The pact also
includes significant marketing commitments from FX in support of each film’s
theatrical release.

The agreement with FX does not include broadcast television
rights, Canadian rights or the second free-TV window. Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr., will arrive in theatres
in North America on May 2, while Marvel Studios’ The Incredible Hulk, featuring Edward Norton, will be released on June 13.

Iron Man stars Downey
Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the story of a billionaire industrialist and
genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. The
Incredible Hulk follows Edward Norton in
the role of scientist Bruce Banner, who desperately hunts for a cure to the
gamma radiation that poisoned his cells and unleashes the unbridled force of
rage within him: The Hulk.

Iron Man is
distributed by Paramount Pictures and The Incredible Hulk is being distributed by Universal Pictures.

“FX is a great home for Marvel Studios’ movies,” said David
Maisel, the chairman of Marvel Studios. “Chuck [Saftler, the executive VP of FX
Networks]; FX president and general manager, John Landgraf, and his team have a
strong understanding of the unique appeal of Marvel movies. This deal is a
great vote of confidence for not only Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk,
but the overall launch of the new Marvel Studios.”

—By Irene Lew