Paramount has, according to Deadline, set four-time The Fast and the Furious franchise helmer Justin Lin to direct the upcoming Star Trek 3 (or 13 depending on your point of view). The news arrives nearly three weeks after word first broke that Roberto Orci would not be taking the director’s chair.
Lin’s credits also include his indie debut Better Luck Tomorrow (which he retconned into a The Fast and the Furious prequel of sorts), the Naval drama Annapolis and several key episodes of Dan Harmon’s “Community.” He’ll also be directing the first two episodes of “True Detective” Season Two.
Although a release date has not been specified, it is widely believed that the plan is for the film to hit theaters in 2016, as the year marks the 50th anniversary of the “Star Trek” franchise.
Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana and John Cho are all expected to reprise their roles as the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Plot details have not yet been revealed, although Orci stated earlier this year that his plan was to set the action in deep space, unlike the relatively Earth-centric J.J. Abrams films. There is no word currently on whether the film will move forward with the same screenplay scripted by Orci, Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne or seek a new draft.
