The search for a new director for Star Trek III has ended.

Justin Lin, who directed four entries to the Fast & Furious franchise has been selected by JJ Abrams and Paramount to lead the Enterprise on her next mission.

It's an interesting choice, to say the least, when you consider the competition Lin was up against. Directors such as Duncan Jones, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish and even Jonathan Frakes were in the running.

OK, the last one not so much - but still, taking a director like Lin into the fold says a lot about where Paramount want Star Trek to go next.

His background is primarily action-based and has little or nothing to do with sci-fi, which means that the studio and Abrams are doubling down on Star Trek being a straightforward blockbuster series now.

There had been rumours that Roberto Orci, the previous director attached, intended for the third entry to be more in line with the original series and have a more stricter sci-fi story and feel.

With Lin's entry to the foray, it can be interpreted that that's no longer the case.

Lin is also believed to be directing the first two episodes of the upcoming second series of True Detective and is, by all accounts, a director in demand.

What do we think of him as director of Star Trek III? He's a solid choice, sure. But for Star Trek? Not so much. One of the biggest criticisms about Star Trek Into Darkness was that it was becoming just another Michael Bay-esque blockbuster with little in the way of plot or substance.

Throwing someone like Lin - who is a fine director, we stress - into the mix means they're aiming for a more broader appeal than perhaps Orci or other potentials had in mind.

We'll have to wait until 2016 to see if that's truly the case.

 

via Deadline.com