Ubisoft in "Driver's" Seat

Atari continues to sell off its developers and franchises. French game publisher Ubisoft has purchased UK developer Reflections and its game franchise, "Driver," for $24 million. The "Driver" franchise has sold over 14 million copies, mostly thanks to the first two PlayStation games. The third game, which shipped for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, was a critical disappointment, but the recent fourth game, "Driver: Parallel Lines," was a step in the right direction. It's the fourth game that convinced Roger Avary to write and direct a Hollywood adaptation of the franchise for Rogue Pictures. This is the second Hollywood option on the property, as Impact Pictures had originally planned on turning "Driver" into a film, but turned its attention to "Castlevania" and "Resident Evil: Extinction."

The movie should only help Ubisoft revive this franchise for next generation consoles. Adapting a driving game with such a strong story to the film world should be a relatively easy endeavor. I've interviewed Roger Avary and he's a huge gamer. He spent a lot of time playing through "Silent Hill" before turning that game into a movie. He was playing "Driver: Parallel Lines" when I spoke with him about "Silent Hill." The fact that he's a gamer should help the translation to the big screen.

On the game side, Ubisoft should be able to revive this franchise for next generation consoles. One possibility, since the movie is in development, is to tie something together for a simultaneous launch on the big screen and next generation consoles. The "Driver" franchise has previously employed Hollywood actors for the third game, so it makes sense for this type of convergence to take place.

Midway Games is employing this tactic with "The Wheelman" with Vin Diesel. Ironically, the driver in "Driver" was referred to as "The Wheelman." Paramount Pictures is releasing a "Wheelman" movie and Midway is working on a next generation console prequel to the movie for release next year. Diesel will star in both the game and film. A trailer for the game was shown at E3, and the next generation Diesel character looked great.

Hollywood screenwriter Rich Wilkes ("XXX") is adapting the film after working on the game. This type of synergy could also be employed with "Driver." Ubisoft has worked closely with Hollywood directors in the past, including Matty Rich and Andrew Davis. So there's a precedent there to converge between the mediums.