Our fine friends at NBC have sent us some video and we, being the cool people that we are, are eager to share it with you. First up is a brand new episode of NBC’s “controversial” reality show The Wanted, which concerns an elite group of crime fighters who have no real affiliation and are just private individuals, who join together to hunt down people known to be part of terrorist organizations.

Next up is a promo for a new show, Trauma, which hits the airwaves on September 28th at 9/8C, is Executive Produced by Peter Berg and is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics.

To be honest, I’m kinda on the fence about The Wanted. I think the “reality” elements of the show at times feel scripted and not real at all. Plus, its just sorta hokey and lame in some parts as well. Trauma, on the other hand, seems like a pretty interesting show and one I will tune in and check out.

Click through to check out both shows after the break.

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In an article detailing the growing influence of game publishers in Hollywood, the Los Angeles Times scooped the San Diego Comic-Con news that Microsoft will be producing a series of short films based around the popular Halo game, without involvement from Hollywood.

The seven short films entitled Halo Legends will be created in the anime style and will be produced by 343 Industries. Five production houses in Japan will be handling the physical animation, however Microsoft’s creative staff will approve all major visual and storytelling decisions.

Warner Bros. has been tapped to distribute Halo Legends on DVD and digital platforms in early 2010.

The full article can be read here.

Attention music and video game fans of all ages! Band Hero invites you to log onto BandHero.com to immortalize yourself and/or your band in a tribute to the newest game in the Guitar Hero family. Submitted photos will not only be populated into a mosaic, but the individual’s or group’s names will be entered into a weekly contest where randomly selected winners will score a Band Hero band kit for the platform of their choice and a Nintendo DS Lite band kit. Sweet!

In November, family, friends  and bandmates will ascend the virtual stage to rock their way to superstardom with Band Hero, featuring the hottest chart-toppers from everyone’s favorite acts including No Doubt, Lily Allen, The All-American Rejects, Snow Patrol and Jackson 5. Headlined by the most recognizable names in music today, Band Hero is the ultimate party game where players can create the band of their dreams through any combination of guitar or drum controllers and vocals, giving rockers of all ages the chance to experience and their favorite music on a whole new level.

One of the things you see at Comic-Con in San Diego are celebrities. One such celebrity is Taylor Lautner, who plays Jacob in the The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Another thing that’s fun about Comic-Con is hanging around backstage and trying to catch a glimpse of people like Lautner. Fortunately, that’s just what happened today. He was just finishing up some interviews and decided to pause for a fe minutes right in front of me. Naturally, I took some photos.

Check out the bigger photos after the jump. Twilight: New Moon hits theaters November 20.

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At the San Diego Comic-Con, IDW Publishing revealed several major digital comic book expansions for the iPhone and iPod Touch. IDW’s newest offerings include the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra prequel comics, Transformers and CSI. An expanded electronic catalog of the G.I. Joe and Transformers tales, as well as Danger Girl, Astro Boy, Groom Lake, John Sable Freelance and GrimJack will also be available in the weeks ahead.

“The digital medium represents a huge opportunity for the comics industry, and we’re proud to be leading the way,” states IDW CEO, Ted Adams. “Through e-publishing, we can introduce an entire new audience to comics and the joys of comic books.”

IDW launched the first digital Transformers comics in May, and rapidly became a popular paid iTunes application. The Transformer catalogue also includes the prequel and adaptation graphic novels for the original movie. IDW’s entire G.I.Joe: The Rise of the Cobra prequel comics are now available, with the movie adaptations coming soon. The fan-favorite series G.I. Joe: Origins and the CSI comic series are now available for download on iTunes.

In addition to new material and story lines, IDW will also bring the classic 1980s Transformers and G.I. Joe series to the iPhone, iPod Touch and the Internet, beginning with Classic Transformers, which can be found online at classic-transformers.com.

IDW’s classic comic expansion will begin J. Scott Campbell and Andy Hartnell’s sexy spy comic, Danger Girl. Danger Girl #0 is currently available as a free application on iTunes, and features an eight-page preview of the comic.

Pull of the Week:

Amazing Spider-Man #600 – Marvel – $4.99

Score: 7.5

After reading the abysmal The Incredible Hulk #600, there was a little trepidation in jumping right in to Spider-Man’s 600th issue. There couldn’t possibly be two epic failures released in the same week could there? Thankfully for the little Spider-Man fan in us all, this issue did not suffer the same fat. Instead, Dan Slot continues the work that the Spider-Man brain trust has pieced together resulting in the marriage of Peter Parker’s beloved Aunt May to J. Jonah Jameson Sr. But much as the cover and the past months have hinted at, nothing is going to run smoothly for the Parker/Jameson clan.

The story opens with Dr. Otto Octavius recalling past traumas he has suffered at the hands of his super powered opponents like Spider-Man, Captain America and the Hulk to a doctor who gives him the grave news that he only has a year and a half to live at most. Otto, the self-righteous and megalomaniacal genius that he is, cannot accept this and vows to leave something great to the world, worthy of his genius. The little eight legged creeper droids that had showed up in the past few months of Amazing Spider-Man are revealed to be a part of Otto’s plan to leave a perfect world behind as he left as they are controlled by his brain patterns.

As much as Otto has tried to turn a new leaf, his subconscious forces it way to the surface and instead of helping the city, the droids end up carrying out attacks on Spider-Man and disruptions to the pending nuptials between May and J. Jonah Jameson Sr. including abducting the groom. Peter, always prepared to do the right thing goes off to find Otto and put the city back together with some help from his good buddy, the Human Torch. The story comes to a feel good conclusion like many other superhero wedding issues have with Peter’s friends, past and present, being there for the sentimental moment.

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The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Len Wiseman, whose past credits include Underworld and Live Free or Die Hard and who is currently prepping the live-action Gears of War, has signed on to develop and direct a film adaptation of the graphic novel Shrapnel for Radical Pictures.

Shrapnel, which was teased last year during Comic-Con by Radical Publishing, describes a sci-fi future where humans have colonized the solar system and have formed a Solar Alliance to govern all planets. The story focuses on Venus, the last rebellious holdout, where a self-exiled former Marine teaches the colonists how to fight back.

Wiseman stumbled upon the property while shopping for comics with his 10-year-old daughter, Lily. Soon thereafter, his agent at ICM was scouting the rights.

“I am really drawn to the reluctant-hero story,” said Wiseman, who noted that the last hero he directed — John McClane in “Live Free or Die Hard” — fit that archetypal mold.

Nick Sagan and Zombie Studios chief Mark Long created the property. Radical principal Barry Levine will produce with Wiseman and Mark Gordon. Long and Radical’s Jesse Berger will exec produce. Although Shrapnel is currently being developed as a live-action pic, a 3D approach could be possible. Zombie Studios is planning the video game.

Taking advantage of the San Diego Comic-Con crowds, Lionsgate has just released clips for their Fall movies, Saw VI and Gamer.

The chilling R-rated Saw VI clip certainly ratchets up anticipation for the movie, and viewers might want to think twice about entering the insurance industry. Saw VI hits theaters on October 23, is directed by Kevin Greuter and stars Shawnee Smith ,Tobin Bell, Betsy Russell, Costas Mandylor, Mark Rolston and Peter Outerbridge.

The action thriller Gamer clip treats viewers to a future where humans can control other humans; in this case, Gerard Butler as the cult hero Kable. The film is written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, and also stars Michael C. Hall, Amber Valletta, John Leguizamo, Kyra Sedgwick and Logan Lerman. Gamer will be released on September 4.

Writer David Leslie Johnson is pretty new to a lot of people, but he plans to be making a name for himself this Friday, as his film Orphan hits theaters across the country. The film is about a married couple who go through an abortion and decide that adoption is their last chance at having a child.

They meet Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) who, on the outside, seems perfect, but later shows herself to be something “different.” We got a chance to sit down with David right before the hoopla at San Diego Comic-Con and talk about a few things.

The Flickcast: Given the premise of Orphan, would you call it more of a supernatural horror or more like a suspense thriller?

David Johnson: It has horror elements but it plays more like a suspense thriller. My mother actually compared it to films like Fatal Attraction and Cape Fear.

TF: So more of the human condition?

DJ: Yes, absolutely.

TF: A movie like this seems to stem from a history of horror and suspense thrillers, did you pick up a lot of influences from other films for the script?

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Yesterday, a few movies sites (JoBlo and FirstShowing.net) received some awesome packages from Disney PR, containing some AWESOME viral marketing schwag for 2011′s Tron sequel. Tron will be at Comic-Con on Thursday, and in preparation, some sites received not only some completely badass Flynn’s Arcade tokens, but a USB thumb drive containing an animated gif file with a coded message.

I found three of the four different gif files yesterday and was able to figure out about 80% of the coded message (it used unicode characters in place of the alphabet), but needed the final file to complete the code. I stopped messing with stuff early in the afternoon, since I didn’t get any schwag myself (Disney, CALL ME), but early this morning, the minds of the Internet came together and two new “Tron” related websites were unleashed!

The two sites are http://homeoftron.com and http://flynnlives.com and both are absolutely fantastic relics for any fan of the 1982 animated-classic. HomeofTron is set-up as sort of a memorial to Flynn’s Arcade (which according to the website’s new section, closed in 1990, *sniff*), whereas FlynnLives has more obvious ties with the upcoming film. Not only does it have Kevin Flynn sightings (for the uninitiated, Kevin Flynn was one of the main characters in the original Tron), it also has a little spider at the bottom of the website that includes a timer and instructions for where to meet up at Comic-Con.

Chris and Matt, you better hit that spot! According to Disney’s previous press releases and announcements at Cine Expo International, the Tron sequel should land in theaters sometime in 2011.

The latest trailer for the Warner Bros. thriller Whiteout surfaced on IGN today. The graphic novel adaptation stars Kate Beckinsale as US Marshall Carrie Stetko, who is investigating Antarctica’s first murder. The film is helmed by Dominic Sena and also stars Gabriel Macht, Columbus Short, Alex O’Loughlin, Shawn Doyle and Tom Skerritt.

This teaser will seem familiar to fans, as most of the material from the first trailer remains intact. However, this version gives viewers who may not be familiar with the source material a greater understanding of the world Stetko inhabits and what she must do before the freezing winter plunges the continent into darkness.

Whiteout hits theaters September 11. Check out the trailer after the jump.

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Taking advantage of the anticipation building towards to Saturday’s Iron Man 2 presentation at San Diego Comic-Con, USA Today has posted new stills from the movie that will undoubtedly whet the appetites of fans everywhere.

Over at the site, readers are treated to images of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, amid racing wreckage, the stylishly professional Gywneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, a surprisingly demure Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Don Cheadle as Col. James Rhodes under oath.

Regardless of the success of the first movie (and the legendary presentation to Comic-Con crowds in 2007), both Downey Jr and director Jon Favreau understand the importance of presenting the right impression to the 125,000 fans flocking to Comic-Con this year.

“This is about the toughest group there is to impress,” says Downey Jr., “They’re watching your footage, every one of them waiting to Twitter whether you suck.”

“You can’t underestimate how powerful this group is,” Favreau says. “It’s an unlimited press corps, all of them knowing how to communicate in a digital age. The geeks have inherited the Earth, and that’s good news for us.”

Iron Man 2 will be in theaters May 7, 2010. Meantime, click through to see larger versions of some of the photos.

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