Midway today announced that they have received a more than $33 million offer from Warner Bros. to buy out most of their company.
“It’s in writing now, that there is interest,” said Geoffrey Mogilner, director of corporate communications for Midway, who added that the company has been in talks with other potential owners as well. Read more…
Wheelman (the game) was supposed to be based on Wheelman (the movie). Didn’t happen, so we only got the game. But now, for some reason, we’re actually going to get that movie.
Variety reports that Paramount Pictures, fresh off the buzz surrounding Fast & Furious, “is accelerating its efforts” to get the movie made, with John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) to direct and Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, Doom) to produce. Diesel will obviously star.
Bankrupt Midway may have a financial savior in Warner Bros., as the media giant—which happens to have a game division in Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment—is reported to be readying a bid for the ailing publisher.
According to a report from MCV, Warner Bros. is “keen to acquire Midway’s flagship Mortal Kombat and Stranglehold franchises” as well as casual fare like the Touchmaster series and legacy intellectual property that the company has squandered over the past decade. As WBIE co-published Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe with Midway, it could certainly make a sequel to that million-seller much easier to get out the door if the media conglomerate owns all properties involved.
We named Warner Bros. as one of three companies looking at a buyout of Midway earlier this month.
According to MCV’s source, Midway is aiming to sell the company for the agreed upon $30 million price tag, which would presumably please creditors and the nearly-30 employees who would benefit under a “key employee incentive program.”
MCV’s take on the matter is that Warner Bros. may opt to sell off select franchises and studios. No word on whether the company is actively seeking to keep the Mortal Kombat team on board, a studio that may be looking for a new home on its own.
That same unnamed source cautions that “The deal isn’t done yet. Midway is still open to offers from other potential buyers – but Warner looks to be favourite to wrap it up.”
Whether Warner Bros. ultimately feels like being embroiled in the legal… unpleasantness the company is currently experiencing remains to be seen.
Midway and Ubisoft have announced that Wheelman has gone gold for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
In Wheelman Vin Diesel stars as an undercover agent and highly skilled driver who must infiltrate the Barcelona underworld to gather intelligence surrounding a covert heist. Read more…
Wheelman, the open world Vin Diesel racer, may be the first title to be properly reorganized under Midway’s chapter 11 bankruptcy, as Kotaku has heard that the game has found a new home at Ubisoft.
We’d learned from a source last week that the game was planned to change publishers, with an announcement from Ubisoft expected shortly. Just recently, we’d been told by other sources at retail that outstanding orders for the game had been put on hold, with expectations that Wheelman would be re-solicited, delayed, and reappear as a Ubisoft game.
