In a celebrity magazine deal set to dwarf all others, Hollywood heavyweights and part-time humanitarians Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have struck a multi-million pound deal with Hello! for the first pictures of their newborn twins.

The glossy weekly refused to comment on the agreement this morning, but confirmed it had secured the world-wide exclusive rights to photos of Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline Jolie Pitt and an interview with their superstar parents.

The film stars pushed magazine deals to a new financial high when they sold pictures of their first biological daughter Shiloh, to People in the US and Hello! in the UK in June 2006. They reportedly received $5 million (£2.5 million) and donated the money to charity. But industry insiders say the contract for the first pictures of the twins will be worth more than double their previous deal.

"This is one of the publishing sensations of the decade - Brad and Angelina are the dream couple of the glossy magazine world and we expect to triple our circulation because of the public's fascination and interest in the couple and their children."

The magazine is rumoured to have paid $11 million (£5.5 million) for the photos and has brought its publication date forward to August 4 to capitalise on the coup.

This morning, the magazine fired a warning shot at rival media outlets, sending a letter from its lawyers threatening legal action if publishers tried to use its exclusive pictures or interview.

Paparazzi, desperate to capture the twins on camera, staked out Lenval hospital in southern France, where Jolie gave birth, for several weeks before the twins arrived by Caesarean section on July 13.

Pitt and Jolie, who also have three adopted children - Maddox, 6, Zahara, 3, Pax, 4, became Hollywood’s number one power couple after meeting on the set of Mr and Mrs Smith in 2005. Pitt left his actress wife, Jennifer Aniston, shortly afterwards.

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