Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment will kick off the 2008 summer movie-going season on May 2nd with Iron Man, the first motion picture to be produced by Marvel under its alliance with Paramount, it was announced today by Rob Moore, President, Worldwide Marketing, Distribution, and Operations, Paramount Pictures; Michael Helfant, President and COO, Marvel Studios; and Kevin Feige, president of production for Marvel Studios. Marvel Studios is a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: MVL). Jon Favreau will direct the film, based on Marvel's best-selling Iron Man comic book character.

The Iron Man film will be produced by Avi Arad, creative advisor to Marvel Studios, and Kevin Feige. Executive Producers are Ari Arad, Mr. Favreau and Louis D'Esposito. This project, the first feature film to be produced independently by Marvel Entertainment, is expected to be financed through Marvel's $525 million revolving film financing facility and distributed under Marvel's overall distribution arrangement with Paramount. Iron Man will mark the first production under Mr. Arad's newly launched production company, Avi Arad Productions.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Helfant said, "We're very excited to lock down the release date for Iron Man, Marvel's first independently produced feature film. We couldn't have asked for a better partner than Paramount to work with on this very powerful character franchise."

Mr. Feige added, "We're thrilled to be launching the summer 2008 movie season with Iron Man. Marvel has had great success with the first Friday in May – 'Spider-Man' broke records on that first Friday and 'X2' debuted at the top of the box office charts as well. We're looking forward to extending that track record with Iron Man and are extremely pleased with the progress of the script, the production team we are forming and the initial production designs."

Moore said, "Marvel is one of our most important partners and Iron Man is one of their premier heroes. We're thrilled to be launching our relationship – and the summer season in 2008 – with this movie."
Based upon Marvel's iconic Super Hero, the film will follow billionaire weapons-manufacturer, Tony Stark, who confronts the sins of his past after he is injured by one of his own weapons. Equipped with a high-tech suit of armor, he becomes Iron Man to combat evil on a global scale.
Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc., one of the leading global entertainment content companies, with prominent and respected brands in focused demographics across virtually all media.

With a library of over 5,000 characters, Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. For more information visit www.marvel.com.