If "Transformers" spinoff "Bumblebee" is a success at the box office, it will probably get a sequel -- the team already has ideas -- and it could also open the door for popular character Optimus Prime to get his own standalone movie.

Fans seemed impressed by the first "Bumblebee" teaser trailer, starring Hailee Steinfeld in an '80s-set movie with all the right old school vibes.

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura told Entertainment Weekly why they decided to focus on Bumblebee to start this new direction for the "Transformers" franchise:

"We've gotten a lot of feedback from the fans that they wanted us to do a deep dive on one or two of the robots, because they wanted to get to know them better.

Bumblebee was selected because he's such a loved figure, and he's also more emotional than Optimus. Those were the two likely characters. [...]

[Optimus] is a stoic leader, and you can count on him. Whereas Bumblebee is the one who is more emotionally volatile. He has a lot of ups and downs. So it seemed like the best character to try for the first time zeroing in on one Autobot."

However, di Bonaventura is still keen to give Optimus his own film:

"I'd certainly like to do that. It would be a very different kind of movie than a Bumblebee movie, but equally interesting and different."

That would likely only happen if "Bumblebee" does well. What would also happen, the producer told EW, is a sequel for this 2018 movie:

"If Bee's successful, we can have a Bee 2, no doubt. We have a good sense of where a second movie would go. For me, the greatest thing that came out of the writer's room was the sense that we could go in any number of directions. It opened up our minds to choices."

One choice they've already made is to remove "Transformers 7" from the release schedule completely. They're starting fresh.

"Bumblebee" opens in theaters December 21.

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