According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Walt Disney Co. and Pixar Animation Studios Inc. have agreed to extend their current distribution agreement to include Pixar's 2007 release, Ratatouille, a deal that will be moot if Disney's proposed acquisition of Pixar closes this summer as expected.

The two companies negotiated what amounts to a one-picture extension as a fail-safe measure in case the acquisition doesn't happen. "This is a deal that Disney and Pixar negotiated independent of the proposed merger to handle the distribution of Ratatouille until such time as the transaction closes," Pixar said Thursday in a statement.

Ratatouille was released June 29th, 2007 and stars Patton Oswalt, Ian Holm, Lou Romano, Brian Dennehy, Peter Sohn, Peter O'Toole, Brad Garrett, Janeane Garofalo. The film is directed by Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava.