WWE Superstar John Cena will take the lead in the Bumblebee spinoff of the Transformers movie franchise.

The news comes just as the film begins production today.

Cena joins fellow lead Hailee Steinfeld in a film that centers on the fan-favorite yellow Autobot. The cast also includes Jorge Lendeborg, Jason Drucker, Abby Quinn, Rachel Crow, Ricardo Hoyos and Gracie Dzienny.

Little is known about the Bumblebee movie's plot, but the film is said to be set in the 1980s, the era that birthed the Transformers franchise through toys and a popular cartoon series.

Travis Knight, who directed Kubo and the Two Strings, will direct the Bumblebee movie from a script written by Christina Hudson (Shut In). The Bumblebee movie is just the first in what Paramount PIcutres hopes will become an entire Transformers Cinematic Universe of franchise prequel films and spinoffs.

The Transformers film franchise has earned the studio more than $3.7 billion globally so far. The latest installment of the franchise was Transformers: The Last Knight, which was the last film for director Michael Bay. The film opened in theaters in June and has earned $568.9 million globally.

Bumblebee is being produced by Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis of Hasbro, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Steven Spielberg, and Michael Bay.

Cena is best known for being a longtime hero of the WWE wrestling world. His acting resume includes Dough Liman's The Wall, Daddy's Home, Sisters, and Trainwreck. He's also set to appear in Daddy's Home 2 and The Pact.

Bumblebee opens in theaters Dec. 21, 2018.

Source: THR

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