Viral Internet marketing was likely responsible for the astonishing success of Warner Bros.' 300 over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times indicated today (Tuesday). The newspaper observed that the movie, which earned nearly $71 million over the weekend, originally got a big push at last year's Comic-Con convention in San Diego when the movie's visuals excited attendees. Berge Garabedian who runs the fanboy website Joblo, told the newspaper that many websites like his began hyping the movie. "Everybody was talking about it," he said. Warner Bros. then developed a MySpace page for the film, including a feature upgrade on the 300 site that permitted users to store 300 photos on their profile. That "stroke of genius," as the Times referred to the photo ploy, resulted in billions of ad impressions and 8 million viewings of the trailer for the film. 300 went into the record books as the third-biggest opening of an R-rated movie in history (after The Passion of the Christ and The Matrix Reloaded). It was also the biggest opening of any film debuting in March and the biggest IMAX opening.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. 300, Warner Bros., $70,885,301, (New); 2. Wild Hogs, Disney, $27,601,291, 2 Wks. ($77,016,616); 3. Bridge to Terabithia, Disney, $6,779,315, 4 Wks. ($66,934,360); 4. Ghost Rider, Sony, $6,670,463, 4 Wks. ($104,012,146); 5. Zodiac, Paramount, $6,641,870, 2 Wks. ($23,595,973); 6. Norbit, Paramount, $4,278,099, 5 Wks. ($88,295,349); 7. The Number 23, New Line, $4,082,292, 3 Wks. ($30,233,459); 8. Music and Lyrics, Warner Bros., $3,744,084, 4 Wks. ($43,761,368); 9. Breach, Universal, $2,505,640, 4 Wks. ($29,021,080); 10. Amazing Grace, Goldywn, $2,478,036, 3 Wks. ($11,392,034).

Betty Hutton, the bubbly actress and singer who starred in countless musicals in the 1940s and early '50s, has died in Palm Springs at age 86. A friend confirmed to the Associated Press only that she had died, saying that the actual time and cause of death would be provided at a later time by the executor of her estate. She was best known for a series of films in which she played real-life personalities -- including Annie Get Your Gun, about Annie Oakley; Somebody Loves Me, about Blossom Seeley; Incendiary Blonde, about Texas Guinan, and Perils of Pauline, about Pearl White. She also appeared in the Best Picture Oscar winner The Greatest Show on Earth.

The Walt Disney Co. is expected to announce today (Tuesday) that it will launch a new website, www.family.com, aimed at young mothers. The company said that while ads for Disney movies will appear on the site, it also plans to sell ads to other companies. ""We want to be clear that 'Disney' does not necessarily mean Disney-branded products and services," Paul Yanover, managing director of Disney Online, told the Associated Press Monday. "It means Disney as a reliable brand. We don't just want to push Disney products."

Worldwide revenue from pornography amounted to at least $97 billion in 2006, according to the Internet site TopTenReviews.com. In a review of software filters, the website claimed that more than $3 million is spent on pornography every second. Although most pornographic films and photographs available on the Internet are produced in the U.S., the Chinese were the biggest buyers, spending $27.4 billion last year, the website said. The U.S. was fourth on the list with $13.3 billion, followed by South Korea, with 25.7 billion, and Japan, with $20 billion. The website surveyed only the top 20 countries.

Dolby Laboratories, the company best known for its sound systems, announced Monday that it has developed 3D technology for its digital theater projectors that can used in conjunction with conventional movie screens and inexpensive 3D glasses. In a statement released at the ShoWest exhibitors' convention in Las Vegas, Dolby VP and GM Tim Partridge said, "Although we are in the early stages of testing Dolby 3D, we are very happy with the way it looks to date." The Dolby 3D Digital Cinema technology can be employed with any installed Dolby digital projector, which can be switched from 3D to 2D automatically, the company said. It did not indicate when it will begin testing the 3D units publicly. Meanwhile, in a separate announcement, DreamWorks animation said Monday that it plans to release all of its new features in 3D beginning in 2009. However, CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told today's (Tuesday) Daily Variety that the studio has no plans to convert previously produced features to 3D. The conversion system, he said, "doesn't begin to touch the quality of product that is originated in 3D."

Viacom today (Tuesday) filed a $1-billion lawsuit against Google and its YouTube video-sharing subsidiary, alleging "massive intentional copyright infringement." The company also asked the court to issue an injunction to prevent YouTube users from uploading other copyrighted material. Viacom owns Paramount and DreamWorks film studios and such cable channels as MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, and Comedy Central. It was not immediately known whether Viacom had attempted to persuade other media companies to join its legal attack. The company's corporate parent is National Amusements Inc., which also controls CBS, Inc., which is engaged in ongoing negotiations with YouTube and Google. Last month Viacom demanded that YouTube remove more than 100,000 clips of Viacom's copyrighted programming.

A two-hour edition of NBC's Deal or No Deal turned out to be the real deal for NBC Monday night as the network knocked CBS out of its usual first-place position on Mondays. The game show opened the night with a 9.0 rating and a 15 share at 8:00 p.m., but from 9:30 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. it averaged a 10.3/15, far ahead of is competition.

Former CBS correspondent Bill McLaughlin has suggested that the problems with the CBS Evening News may not be solvable so long as Katie Couric remains as its anchor and managing editor. In an interview with today's (Tuesday) Philadelphia Inquirer, McLaughlin, now an associate professor of communications at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, said that the news program is filled with problems, "all of them named Katie." He suggested that from the outset it was being molded to her image. He predicted that under newly appointed executive producer Rick Kaplan, "they'll stop futzing around with these light, cheery, frilly pieces she pushed through. The American public wants a hard-news show." McLaughlin's comments were roundly scored by CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius, who called them "absurd, inaccurate and uniformed ... from someone who apparently hasn't watched the broadcast in quite some time and who hasn't worked in network news in decades." However, Brian Montopoli, who edits CBS's own news blog, Public Eye, commented Monday that Kaplan's appointment "signaled a change in the direction of the Evening News." He added, "It is probably fair to say that the collective hope at CBS is that the show does get 'harder.' But there remains a fair amount of skepticism within the organization about whether that will really happen."

Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports have agreed to share each other's video, photos, reports, and feature articles on their respective websites -- that is, video from NBC's television coverage will be accessible on Sports Illustrated's SI.com website; photos and articles in the magazine will be linked to NBCSports.com. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

A BBC reporter has become the latest victim of Muslim extremists in the Middle East. The reporter, Alan Johnson, was kidnapped by masked Palestinian gunmen as he was driving in Gaza City Monday, according to news reports. A spokesman for Hamas, which now controls the Palestinian government, told he Associated Press, "We call on these criminal groups to stop this destruction of our reputation and to let this journalist free."

The Vatican announced Monday that it plans to launch an international satellite channel that will provide news and entertainment in seven languages. Details of the programming were not announced. The announcement came just three days after Pope Benedict XVI declared that "much of what is transmitted in various forms to the homes of millions of families around the world is destructive."