Hailee Steinfeld is in talks to star in Paramount’s “Bumblebee,” the first spin-off in the newly created “Transformers” universe for the studio.

Laika CEO Travis Knight will be making his live-action directorial debut on the pic. He directed the Oscar-nominated “Kubo and the Two Strings.” While plot details are still unknown, the story will focus on the popular character who has appeared in all of Michael Bay’s “Transformers” films. Details behind Steinfeld’s character are also being kept under wraps.

Bay, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Brian Goldner, Stephen Davis, Knight, Mark Vahradian and Steven Spielberg are producing. Christina Hodson penned the script after joining the “Transformers” writers’ room last year, where the studio began fleshing out ideas for other movies contained in the “Transformers” universe, but not necessarily set along the franchise timeline.

Following her Oscar-nominated role in “True Grit,” Steinfeld has risen the ranks of leading ladies and this pic now marks her second potential franchise she will lead after joining the “Pitch Perfect” franchise. She is coming off strong reviews in STX’s “The Edge of Seventeen,” which earned her a Golden Globe nomination & can be seen next in “Pitch Perfect 3.”

via Variety