Fast and Furious director Justin Lin on his vision for film Star Trek Beyond and William Shatner

AS HE takes over the franchise from J.J. Abrams, Fast and Furious director — and self-confessed “Star Trek kid” — Justin Lin outlines his plan for the next chapter.

BEFORE J.J. Abrams departed for a galaxy far, far away, he was already an integral part of a beloved, outer-space sci-fi franchise.

The director had successfully cemented his place in the pop culture pantheon with two Star Trek films that spectacularly rebooted the long-running and — it must be said, ailing — Star Trek series.

All along though, Abrams admitted that as much as he grew to love Kirk, Spock and the gang, he was a Star Wars kid at heart, so it was little wonder that when George Lucas came calling with The Force Unleashed, it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

But he hasn’t jumped ship from the USS Enterprise completely. He has stayed on as producer of the third film in the rebooted franchise, Star Trek Beyond, and it appears he has left it in good hands. His replacement as director, Justin Lin, best known for turning the Fast and Furious series into the juggernaut it has become today, is a self-confessed “Star Trek kid”. He, like Abrams, believes the two series, which have often been pitched as rivals can peacefully coexist in the same universe. Indeed, until it leaked early this week, the first trailer for Star Trek Beyond was due to debut before The Force Unleashed, giving geeks of the world a double bang for their buck.

“Space is a big place,” says Lin with a laugh from Los Angeles, where he is editing Star Trek Beyond, due to be released in July. “I grew up a Star Trek kid not a Star Wars kid — spending that one hour with my dad and my brothers watching Star Trek is definitely a part of me.

“I get that a lot of people love Star Wars — and I could see that you can love both and they can coexist in our lives. But the DNA of Star Trek is different in as far as it’s human beings, it’s us in the future. The harder we push forward into the unknown the more it intensifies the reflection of humanity. That’s what I really love about Star Trek.”

MOVIES: What to see in 2016

VOTE: The best and worst movies

Mentor ... J.J. Abrams left the Enterprise for the Star Wars galaxy but Justin Lin says he has had nothing but support. Picture: Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP

Lin has nothing but praise for Abrams, whom he says pretty well left him alone after passing the baton.

“J.J. is a filmmaker so it was nothing but respect when we had the initial conversation,” he says. “We talked and he wanted to see if I was interested. I took a day or so and I realised what a big part of my life Star Trek was. And the one thing J.J. said was ‘take it if you want to do it — be bold and make the Star Trek that you want to make’. And that was it. I got nothing but support and as a filmmaker you can’t ask for a better situation than that.”

Lin came on board Star Trek Beyond in somewhat controversial circumstances. The movie was initially to be directed by Roberto Orci, who had co-written the first two films, but he and his script were replaced by Lin and a script written by Star Trek regular Simon Pegg and Doug Jung. Additionally, despite the previous chapter, Star Trek Into Darkness, receiving generally positive reviews and making more than half a billion dollars globally (the most of any Trek film), the diehard fans were up in arms at the way it rewrote much loved facets of the franchise’s universe.

Multi-skilled ... Simon Pegg has double duties on Star Trek beyond having written the script and reprising his role as Scotty. Picture: Francois Nel / Getty Images for Paramount Pictures

“I think that’s part of making these bigger budget movies,” says Lin about the fine line between pleasing the hard-core fans and winning the broader appeal essential to the survival of the franchise. “I am aware that there are certain sentiments out there but I really can’t let that infect the process. So it’s a balancing act and I hope that my love and Simon and Doug’s love for Star Trek amounts to a way to organically address any concerns people might have. But it’s also my commitment to push and be bold and take risks that can hopefully keep this franchise progressing. Ultimately I can’t just do what people want — I needed to commit to something and that was definitely the approach here.”

As was the case with Abrams’ Star Trek films, the plot details are closely under wraps. But rather than paying homage to earlier films as Abrams’ films did by including original cast member Leonard Nimoy in the first and revered villain Khan in the second, Lin suggests this will be an all-new adventure. This time around Christopher Pine’s Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock are heading to new planets, with new challenges and facing off against Idris Elba as the big bad. Basically, boldly going where the franchise hasn’t gone before.

New horizons ... Justin Lin has promised new worlds, new aliens and new adventure in Star Trek Beyond.

“When I think of Star Trek as a fan, I think a lot of the crew, I think Klingons and Vulcans — and as much as I love those, I know that the universe is a bigger place,” Lin says. “So I felt like it was really important to explore and introduce new species and put characters into predicaments and how they react to them defines who they are.”

But the new trailer — featuring some Fast and Furious like action sequences and set to the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage — suggests a lighter tone. Pegg has said his script hearkens back to the spirit of the original show, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next year.

“I am a big Simon Pegg fan, both as an actor and a writer, so I was very lucky to have him as both,” he says. “I know for a fact that my personal love and level of engagement was from the TV show, so I think no matter what we did, that was going to be part of this journey. The essence of this film is to kind of embrace and honour a lot of what we love about Trek.”

Old-school ... Justin Lin grew up on classic Star Trek — but says the original Captain Kirk, William Shatner (centre), won’t appear in Star Trek Beyond.

And how about a much-mooted cameo from original Captain Kirk, William Shatner? The veteran actor said last year that he’d spoken to Abrams about the possibility of appearing, but Lin says don’t get your hopes up.

“That was probably before I came on,” he says. “I don’t know about those conversations. I feel like my job is to really care for Kirk, Spock and the whole crew on this time line and try to really do my best to honour this new chapter of Trek.”

SEE STAR TREK BEYOND OPENS JULY 21, 2016

Originally published as Fast and Furious director Justin Lin on his vision for film Star Trek Beyond and William Shatner