‘Iron Man 2’ and Summer Films

Hollywood is hoping that a barrage of sequels, newly increased ticket prices and the 3-D boom will power its crucial summer season, which kicked off this weekend, to a record $5 billion in North American ticket sales.

“Iron Man 2,” which stars Robert Downey Jr. as the brilliant but emotionally damaged industrialist Tony Stark and Mickey Rourke as his nemesis, cost about $170 million to make and had an estimated global marketing budget of about $150 million. Marvel Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company, produced the movie. Paramount Pictures distributed it for an 8 percent slice of the revenue.

The first “Iron Man,” which was released in May 2008, sold $98.6 million in its first weekend and $318.4 million total. Worldwide, “Iron Man” sold $585.1 million. Its success played a starring role in Disney’s decision to buy Marvel for $4 billion last August.