After a long hard day blasting bad guys on the big screen (or, um… duck-sitting), hulking meat-machine Vin Diesel trades in his arsenal and grabs an Xbox controller for some relaxing violence in the comfort of his home/trailer/castle.

The hardcore gamer (whose own game company was responsible for the rather excellent Chronicles of Riddick prequel Escape from Butcher Bay – I wonder whatever happened to that Perrone game they were working on?) is adding another project to his pile, a movie/game called The Wheelman. Following in the skidmarks of the increasingly not-great Driver and The Getaway game series, the story (as if it matters) involves an ace driver lured out of retirement to stomp the accelerator and crash cars into things at high velocity.

The game and movie are being simultaneously developed by MTV, Paramount and Midway, with the game (whose $15 million budget Variety claims is expensive, but is actually closer to the new standard) setting up background for the flick. As has become the trend, MTV will pimp the soundtrack and the game will be loaded with advertising in the ongoing quest for seamless cross-promotional harmony.

Diesel, who’s also putting on his antihero pants for the sci-fi flick Babylon AD, is already heavily involved in adapting the “assassin simulator” videogame Hitman as well as the new game expected to hit next-gen consoles in time for that movie’s planned release.