When one director leaves, another boldly will go where several other directors have gone before. Justin Lin, the filmmaker best known for his work behind the camera with the Fast and Furious series, will fill Roberto Orci's shoes and helm Star Trek 3.
Deadline confirmed the news. This comes after Lin was on Paramount's wishlist of directors for the job. Other filmmakers desired included Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), David Espinosa (Safe House) and Duncan Jones (the upcoming Warcraft, Source Code).
According to the report, Lin was the only one who officially received an offer.
Screenwriter Orci dropped Star Trek 3 as his directorial debut earlier this month. J.J. Abrams, who helmed the last two films in the series, 2009's Star Trek and last year's Star Trek Into Darkness, is busy making the little-known sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens and cannot commit.
He remains on the project as a producer through his company Bad Robot. Orci also remains connected as producer and co-writer.
Lin will jump onto the new action sequel once he finishes up directing the first two episodes of True Detective's new season.
Lin was also set to direct the sequel to The Bourne Legacy with Jeremy Renner, but that got postponed when Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass agreed to make another film.
At one point, Lin was also being considered to make the multi-part finale to the Fast and Furious series, but he's likely not making that on account of this recent hiring.
