Little-known fact: La Sagrada Familia is personally protected by Vin Diesel.

If the title of my article didn’t catch your attention, let me re-iterate: talk has been brewing about Paramount Pictures putting actor Vin Diesel in a movie roughly based on the same source material as Midway/Ubisoft’s title Wheelman. It’s a huge stretch for the actor/producer, but can he pull it off?

I give my theories on why this project has played out the way it did, as well as dishing out other movie rumors out after the chicane…

Wheelman was not exactly heralded as the “Gears of War of driving games,” but it was pretty dang fun. For those of you who missed it, I highly recommend you check out at least the demo, if not a rental.

Variety (link purposefully withheld by the author due to apparent computer security risks detected by virus protection software from 3rd-party advertisers at Variety’s site) reported on Thursday that Paramount Pictures has finally come to their senses and realized that a movie based on the same source material as the game might actually make money. Make no mistake—this isn’t technically a movie based on a game. The project was originally intended to be a side-by-side effort. According to the article from Variety:

Sumner Redstone owned both Midway Games and Paramount, and the plan was to launch the “Wheelman” game and movie in close proximity. Redstone unloaded his 87% stake in Midway late last year in a debt restructuring move, and the vidgame moved to Ubisoft.

This doesn’t entirely explain why the movie was dropped, but I personally believe it was about money. Isn’t that what it’s always about? Keep in mind, the following theory isn’t necessarily how it went down. There are a lot of variables involved, and despite my clout, Vin Diesel’s agent has yet to return my phone calls granting me an interview with the superstar as to why he and the other producers (yes, VD has producer credits to his name on this game and several of his movies) delayed the movie. This is only one guys’ theory, based on my business and media background.

Looking at the situation from a business perspective, it seems hard to believe that the movie was postponed in favor of the game, when movies starring A-list celebrities doing exciting, dangerous activities typically net more money than games (I said typically, I realize there are examples to the contrary). However, if we look at production costs, the game was considerably less to produce.

It makes more sense in this situation to go with the lower-cost project and, if the costs are recouped, that looks very good to investors to aid in getting the funding for the higher-cost major motion picture. Investors can be companies or individuals who give money to projects with a high rate of return. The more “risky” the project is, the higher the return payback. Think of it like the Hollywood version of the stock market.

If you were to front several millions of dollars to a project that was being directed by John Singleton—the same guy that has lent his talent to Boyz ‘n the Hood, the 2000 Samuel L. Jackson remake of Shaft, and the Vin Diesel-less racer flick 2 Fast 2 Furious—it might seem safe, but as we all know video game-related movies don’t typically do well.

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