Viacom's Paramount in Marvel distribution deal

The two companies made the announcement as gross receipts for "Iron Man," released in May and distributed by Paramount, hit $574 million worldwide.

The new deal will also cover "The First Avenger: Captain America" and "The Avengers" in 2011 and a future "Iron Man 3."

Distributors reap a fee related to ticket sales and recoup their upfront marketing and distribution costs, while the rest goes to the production company. As an example, Paramount collects a fee of 8 percent of sales on movies made by DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. that it distributes.

Paramount will accept a slightly lower fee than the rate it had with Marvel but expand its distribution to include Japan, France, Spain, Australia and New Zealand, said Rob Moore, Paramount's vice chairman. Neither fee was disclosed.

"Given the success we all had together on their first venture, I think everybody felt like the working relationship was fantastic," Moore said.

David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, said the new deal with Paramount was more lucrative for Marvel.

"We were able to improve our economics on the deal, which would be expected," he said.

After the announcement, Viacom shares were down $1.99, or 7.8 percent, at $23.52, while Marvel shares fell $1.46, or 4.2 percent, to $32.95 amid a broad market downturn.