Last summer, Paramount and Hasbro put together a team of writers to come up with ideas for spinoffs and sequels for their lucrative Transformers franchise, starting with director Michael Bay's Transformers 5. Earlier today, we reported that Paramount and Hasbro confirmed the release dates for Transformers 5, 6 and 7, which will hit theaters in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively. Now we have a statement from Hasbro which confirms that the 2018 project is actually a Bumblebee spinoff. Take a look at the brief statement below, which was released during Hasbro's Toy Fair presentation this morning.

"At Hasbro's Analyst Presentation this morning during Toy Fair, Hasbro Chairman, President and CEO Brian Goldner announced new details about the next three films in the multi-billion dollar global franchise. In partnership with Paramount, the writers' room assembled by Hasbro's Allspark Pictures has created several exciting new Transformers stories and is beginning development on the next three theatrical films. In 2017, Michael Bay will direct the next chapter of the Transformers films, with Mark Wahlberg returning to star. That film is slated for release on June 23. On June 8, 2018, a new film is being developed which will tell the never before heard story of Bumblebee, one of the most beloved characters from Hasbro's Transformers universe. A third new film will continue the story of Hasbro's iconic franchise which is scheduled for release on June 28, 2019."

It hasn't been announced who will write and direct the Bumblebee spinoff quite yet. What we also don't know at this point is how the continuity will be maintained between Transformers 5, Transformers 6: Bumblebee and Transformers 7. We don't know for sure if the Bumblebee movie will actually be Transformers 6, or if the June 28, 2019 movie will be Transformers 6, but hopefully Paramount and Hasbro will clear up this confusion soon. We also don't know how this will affect the previously-announced Transformers 8 at this time.

The writer's room was lead by Akiva Goldsman, and also included Steven S. DeKnight (Daredevil), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead), Art Marcum & Matt Holloway (Iron Man), Zak Penn (Pacific Rim 2), Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari (Ant-Man), Christina Hodson, Lindsey Beers, Ken Nolan and Geneva Robertson-Dorsett. Michael Bay helped oversee the writers room, along with Steven Spielberg, Hasbro's Brian Goldner and producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian and Don Murphy.

Transformers 5 will be written by Ken Nolan and the writing team of Art Marcum & Matt Holloway. They took over the writing duties from Akiva Goldsman, who was originally set to write Transformers 5 himself, but he was brought on to oversee new writers rooms for G.I. Joe 3 and Micronauts, making him unavailable to write Transformers 5. We reported earlier this month that Transformers 5 will start production in May.

Another project developed in the writers room is an animated spinoff called Transformers One, but it isn't known when that movie will move forward. Are you excited that Bumblebee is getting his own movie spinoff? Who do you think should write and direct this upcoming movie? Chime in with your thoughts, and stay tuned for more from the growing Transformers franchise.