Director Justin Lin On Joining Star Trek

In an interview with Deadline, Star Trek 3 director Justin Lin discussed what motivated him to leave the Fast and Furious franchise to direct the film and comments briefly on the script that is currently being written by Doug Jung and Simon Pegg.

Why did Lin exit a thriving franchise in The Fast & The Furious for a Star Trek franchise still trying to reach that commerce level? “I was in the last week shooting True Detective when JJ Abrams called last December,” Lin said. “He asked me, do you like Star Trek? If you do, you should take this, be bold, and just go for it.’ ” Unbeknownst to Abrams — who was leaving to direct the revival of Star Wars — he called the right guy. “I thought about how much a part of my life Star Trek was,” Lin said. “Growing up, my parents had this little fish and chips restaurant in Anaheim in the shadows of Disneyland, and they didn’t close until 9 PM. As a family, we didn’t eat dinner until 10 PM, and we would watch the original Star Trek every night at 11. My dad worked 364 days a year, only took Thanksgiving off, and from age 8 to 18, the only time I could hang out with my parents was by staying late. And every night, it was Star Trek on Channel 13 in L.A. That was my childhood. All my friends were Star Wars kids but I didn’t go to the movies, so I was the Star Trek kid. Thinking about this, it became a very personal and very emotional decision.” Then it became a blur. “On Fast 6, we had a year turnaround and that was crazy. This one gave us six months to get ready, which makes it like an incredibly expensive indie movie.”

“As great as JJ’s films were, there’s still a lot to be mined from these characters,” Lin said. “They haven’t really gone on their five-year mission, so what we experienced in the TV show hasn’t been touched on yet. That sets up an opportunity for exploration and the deeper you go, the more you are examining humanity. Those are the things that I absorbed as a kid and hope to tap into and embrace and celebrate. By the time this movie comes out, Star Trek will have been around for 50 years."

"...the plot isn’t borrowed from old Trek episodes the way the last film was. “It’s all new and fresh,” Lin said. “The Klingons, Romulans and other species are great, but it’s time to go further. It has been fun to focus on creating whole new worlds and species.”