• by David Kaplan , January 13, 2005

You've seen the movie, now play the game. THQ, the company behind some of the most popular movie-to-video game entertainment offerings, has chosen MindShare's Los Angeles office to run its U.S. media planning and implementation account.

The broadcast portion of the THQ account was previously handled by Summit Media, a MindShare spokeswoman said.

Billings were undisclosed. THQ spent $21 million this past holiday season promoting movies-cum-games, such as "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" and "The Incredibles." In addition, the company was pushing its game versions of television properties such as World Wrestling Entertainment.

The company spent $36 million on ads in 2003 and $8 million through July 2004, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

THQ is planning big promotions for releases in the first half of 2005. The forthcoming titles include "The Punisher," "MX vs. ATV Unleashed," "Full Spectrum Warrior," and "Destroy All Humans."

MindShare has been hired to help expand THQ's media efforts to support that growing list of video game titles.

In a statement, Peter Dille, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing for THQ, said: "MindShare is one of the largest media agencies in the world, and their L.A. team did a great job handling our print and online assignments through the critical holiday season. We look forward to expanding our relationship in 2005 through the launch of several new game properties for THQ."