"Marvel and IMAX are a perfect one-two punch and the Iron Man franchise has become a global phenomenon that resonates with fans around the world," said Greg Foster , Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment, on today's announcement. "We look forward to moviegoers experiencing this highly-anticipated next installment of Tony Stark's latest adventures in IMAX 3D."
"With Iron Man 3 building on the events of Marvel's The Avengers, audiences are in for yet another incredible moviegoing experience from Marvel Studios," said Dave Hollis, Executive Vice President of Motion Picture Distribution for Disney. "We're thrilled to be able to offer that to fans in the larger-than-life action of IMAX 3D."
Iron Man 3 is directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), and will see Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark going up against his nemesis The Mandarin, played by Ben Kingsley (Hugo). Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts), Don Cheadle (War Machine) and Jon Favreau (Happy Hogan) all return to the cast, while other newcomers to the MCU include Guy Pearce (Prometheus) as Aldrich Killian, James Badge Dale (The Lone Ranger) as Eric Savin / Coldblood, Ashley Hamilton (Sunset Beach) as Jack Taggert / Firepower and Rebecca Hall (The Town) as Maya Hansen.
Iron Man 3 kicks off Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on April 26th in the UK and May 3rd in North America and will be followed by Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy as the studio builds to The Avengers 2 in 2015.