– WWE held the annual shareholder’s meeting on Friday morning at WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT. This time, Triple H was introduced under his real name along with the other WWE executives including Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn and Basil Devito. Here are some highlights:
* Vince guaranteed that WWE will be in stronger shape by this time next year. Vince talked about WWE attendance being up and RAW being up 3% in the ratings while SmackDown is up 15%.
* CFO George Barrios said that 37% of WWE business is now international.
* Barrios said 2010 was WWE’s most profitable year but they lost $40 million in 2011. $30 million of that was losses from WWE Studios. WWE was also hurt last year by holding off on rights fees of non-RAW and SmackDown shows as they hold them off for the Network.
* Barrios added that WWE is the #2 action figure brand.
* WWE Studios head Michael Luisi said they will now be doing PG-13 and R rated movies as well as different genre films like horror, sci-fi, drama and others. They will also continue to do PG movies.
* WWE will also focus on working on pre-existing franchises and producing sequals as a way to tap into those movies fanbases and broaden their own film base beyond the WWE fans.
* WWE Studios has began acquiring completed movies which will allow them to take the movie, brand it as a WWE film and market it over the various WWE properties.
* Marine: Homefront will begin filming in June and a WWE Superstar will be announced in the starring role soon. Horror movie No One Lives with Brodus Clay in a supporting role will be released in 2013.
Source: PWInsider
