'Star Trek 3' Director Will Be 'Fast & Furious 6' Helmer Justin Lin

By Mike Fleming Jr

EXCLUSIVE: Paramount Pictures has just set Justin Lin to direct Star Trek 3, filling the biggest open directing assignment out there with the filmmaker who revived the Fast & Furious series.

Lin helmed a trio of the films that grossed $1.7 billion in worldwide box office.

He replaces Robert Orci, who has been involved as writer/director in the revamped Star Trek series, the first two of which were directed by JJ Abrams. He left to revive the Star Wars franchise.

Deadline reported previously that several top ranked filmmakers were in contention, but we’re told that Lin was the only one to be offered the job.

He is available because he was going to direct the sequel to The Bourne Legacy spinoff with Jeremy Renner, but that film got postponed when Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass agreed to do another installment of The Bourne Identity, which Universal wants to come first.

Lin was courted to return to the Fast & Furious franchise to do a multi-part finale, but I am not sure whether that will be in the cards in light of the Star Trek job.

Orci remains a producer on the Star Trek film. The first one grossed $380 million worldwide in 2009 and the sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, grossed over $460 million worldwide, opening May 2013.

Lin is  repped by CAA, Cinetic Management and Sloss Eckhouse Law Co.

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Photo: Paramount