In one of the biggest partnerships to date between a vidgame publisher and a studio, MTV Films and Paramount are developing Midway Games' The Wheelman as a feature film.

The plan is to release the pic and the game simultaneously; Vin Diesel is signed on to star in and produce both.

Wheelman is an action-adventure title about an expert driver who comes out of retirement to protect a woman from his past.

Paramount and MTV Films bought the rights from Midway, which is already well into development on the game for next generation consoles Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The budget is believed to be north of $15 million -- on the high end for videogames.

The game and movie are being targeted for a late 2007 release. XXX scribe Rich Wilkes is penning the film's screenplay and is expected to turn in a draft in about two months.

The videogame's story will be a prequel to the film, with some crossover between the two.