EXCLUSIVE: Actor John Ortiz has landed two roles. He’ll first join Hailee Steinfeld and Jon Cena in Paramount’s Bumblebee, the first spinoff of the Transformers franchise. The pic, which will bow in theaters Dec. 21, 2018, has Travis Knight directing from a script by Christina Hodson.

It’s set in 1987, where Bumblebee, who is refuged in a junkyard, is discovered and revived by Charlie (Steinfeld) who, on the cusp of turning 18, is trying to find her place in the world. Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Michael Bay, and Steven Spielberg are producing with Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis.

In addition, Ortiz will co-star in the revenge thriller Peppermint, starring Jennifer Garner, about a woman who, her after husband and daughter are gunned down in a drive-by, wakes up from a coma and spends years learning to become a lethal killing machine. Pierre Morel is attached to direct the film, while Lakeshore Entertainment’s Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi are producing and STXfilms is distributing. Chad St. John wrote the screenplay. Renee Tab and Christopher Tuffin are exec producers.

Ortiz’s upcoming film slate includes Paramount’s God Particle, produced by JJ Abrams and starring David Oyelowo, Replicas opposite Keanu Reeves, and Nostalgia with Jon Hamm. He is repped by Gersh, Sanders Armstrong Caserta Management, and Schreck, Rose, Dapello.