Universal Parks is the final standout. Tom Williams led our parks group to a stellar 2012 and we see great potential in this business in the years ahead. The new Transformers ride has been an enormous success at Universal Studios Hollywood and will be opening in Orlando this year. In the not too distant future, the hugely successful Harry Potter attraction will be coming to Hollywood and Japan and expanding its existing footprint in Orlando.
These businesses deserve to be called out because they all had great years. Interestingly, not many people would have picked NBC Prime, NBC Sports, Owned Stations and Parks as big near-term growth opportunities. The important lesson is that we have the ability to transform even mature businesses if we invest and manage them intelligently.
We had other great successes in every division throughout the company. In film, we had a major hit in Ted, which became the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy ever. Lorax also did very well and Les Mis is a movie we can be very proud of for a long time to come. Universal Pictures had its best worldwide box office in the studio’s 100-year history, with global theatrical grosses of more than $3 billion and a slate that included seven movies that crossed the $200 million mark at the worldwide box office, more than any other studio.
