It's usually a struggle to get a movie's stars involved with the game spin-off. But that's not the case with “The Wheelman,” which not only features Vin Diesel in the title role of both the game and the film, but is being made in conjunction with the actor's own video game company Tigon Studios.

We spoke to Shaun Himmerick, the game's executive producer, about how this convergence of cinema and cut scenes will play out when Midway releases the game on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year.

What are some of the movies you looked at for inspiration for this game?
We watched a ton: “The Bourne Identity,” “Ronin,” “Bullitt”—I'm an old school guy—as well as movies that have great car scenes, such as “The Matrix Reloaded.” One even led to a specific move in the game; that scene in “Die Hard With a Vengeance” where Bruce Willis hits the emergency brake, spins the car around, and shoots the car behind him. We built our Cyclone move based on that. We also do a lot with the camera that's movie inspired, like when you jerk the steering wheel to the left or right and slam into another car, we made that look just like it does when they do it in the movies.

How does the plot of the “Wheelman” movie relate to the game's plot?
Well, when Vin got involved, he brought in writer Rich Wilkes, who wrote the script for the game and is also writing the movie, which is set before our game. They're not the same story.

When did Vin actually get involved in the game?
We had heard he was a gamer and had his own game company, so we approached him. We had already come up with the idea and were working on the game when he got involved.

Has he offered you any specific gameplay ideas?
Yes. It was actually his idea to approach it in a more movie-like way, which not only led to him bringing in a screenwriter, but it also led us to bring in some of John Woo's storyboard guys. He also made a comment about wanting it to have the aggressive feel of a fighting game, which led us to build our vehicle melee in such a way that, when you hit another car, it feels like you're really slamming into someone, not just grinding against them.

Was there anything you considered doing in the game that you didn't end up doing because it was too close to something you'd already seen in a movie?
No, if anything we'd err on the side of having that recollection moment. Though it doesn't always work. We actually tried to do a mission that was like that scene in “The Transporter 2,” where he does the jump and a flip so he can knock the bomb off the bottom of his car, but we could never make it fun to play.