Star Trek 3: Director Justin Lin teases story, promises a 'new and fresh' take on the franchise

Director Justin Lin, who was instrumental in shaping the Fast and Furious franchise into the box-office juggernaut that it is today, will now helm the third Star Trek movie.

Taking on the directorial reigns from JJ Abrams, Lin - who's a self-confessed Star Trek fan - told Deadline that he plans to bring a lot of "new and fresh" material to the franchise. The Fast Five director remained tight-lipped about the script (co-written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung), but did promise the plot would not be borrowed from classic Trek episodes the way Star Trek Into Darkness was.

"The Klingons, Romulans and other species are great, but it's time to go further," Lin revealed. "It has been fun to focus on creating whole new worlds and species."

Lin added that while he admired JJ Abrams' work, his take on the popular franchise will differ from earlier films in several ways.

"As great as JJ's films were, there's still a lot to be mined from these characters. 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," Lin stressed.

It remains to be seen whether Lin's version with a "new and fresh take" goes down well with die-hard Star Trek fans. It seems like the director is really all set to boldly go where no man has gone before.