Disney film ``Iron Man 3`` hottest ticket of 2013: Rentrak

Walt Disney`s film "Iron Man 3" was the hottest film of 2013, with ticket sales of $409 million in the North American market, one of four Disney films among the year`s top-selling movies, according to Rentrak. "Iron Man 3," which stars Robert Downey Jr. as industrialist Tony Stark and his alter ego inside the super-charged metal suit, finished just ahead of Lions Gate Entertainment`s dystopian action film "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which had ticket sales of $398.4 million, the entertainment research service said. Comcast`s Universal Pictures animated film "Despicable Me 2" was third with $367.8 million. "Man of Steel" from Time Warner`s studio Warner Brothers was fourth with $291 million. Warner Brothers, whose film "Gravity" also placed in the top 10, ended the year with 17 percent of the year`s record $10.9 billion in ticket sales, tops among Hollywood studios and ahead of Disney`s 15.7 percent, according to Rentrak. Disney`s animated films "Frozen" and "Monsters University" and its fantasy film "Oz the Great and Powerful" were also among the year`s top 10 best-selling movies. The media giant`s films came during the first full year of Disney CEO Bob Iger`s strategy of investing in films with hefty budgets that Disney can turn into "brands" that bring in box office receipts, spawn movie sequels, drive toy sales and inspire theme-park rides. "Iron Man 3" was made for $200 million, according to the film website Box Office Mojo. The North American market includes theaters in the United States and Canada.