The J.J. Abrams-sized void in Paramount’s Star Trek sequel has finally been filled, and it’s a guy with a track record of creating massive franchise hits.

Deadline is reporting that the studio has locked in Justin Lin (Fast & Furious franchise) to direct Star Trek 3, replacing Roberto Orci. When Abrams left to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Orci (who co-wrote the previous film) stepped in to direct but left the director’s chair for unknown reasons several weeks ago (he's still producing). Regardless, the studio has definitely replaced an established hit-maker (Abrams) with another hit-maker with Lin's hire.

Though there’s no denying Lin’s credentials when it comes to directing massive action scenes and creating monster hits, it’ll be interesting to see how the Trek fans respond to the hire. Lin’s four Fast and Furious films have grossed a mind-boggling $1.9 billion at the worldwide box office, and he’s also helmed a few episodes of small-screen faves True Detective and Community, but his genre resume is relatively thin.

Lin’s name has been bouncing around for a while now on leaked studio short lists, though many thought more genre-friendly options were at the top. Today’s report claims he was the first and only director to get an offer for the gig. It’s also unknown how this deal could affect Lin’s role in future Fast & Furious sequels. It’d previously been rumored that he might stick around for a few more ultra-profitable installments.

The studio is reportedly aiming for a 2016 release date, and now that Lin is locked in, we’d expect this one to start moving very quickly. Do you think Lin is a good choice to take the helm of Star Trek?

(Via Deadline)