Paramount Pictures has named Travis Knight as the director for the Transformers franchise spinoff Bumblebee, Variety is reporting.

Knight is the director/animator behind the Oscar-nominated Kubo and the Two Strings, and has also worked as an animator on Coraline, ParaNorman, and The Boxtrolls.  This would be his first time directing a live-action film. Knight is the son of Nike founder Phil Knight, and is the president and CEO of Laika animation house.

The script was written by Christina Hodson (see “Buzz for 'Bumblebee'”). The film will be produced by Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, and Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis. While an official release date has not been announced, Paramount reserved a spot on June 8, 2018 for “Transformers 6,” and it is rumored that Bumblebee will fill that slot (see “Paramount Rolls Out Three 'Transformers' Film Dates”).

The next film in the franchise, Transformers: The Last Knight, will release in theaters on June 23 (see “New TV Spots for 'Transformers: The Last Knight'”).