In this April 18, 2013 file photo, Justin Lin arrives at the Cinemacon Big Screen Awards red carpet and receives Director of the Year Award at Caesars Palace, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Al Powers/Powers Imagery/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
The USS Enterprise is about to get a little faster. "Fast & Furious" director Justin Lin is taking the helm of the third installment in Paramount's "Star Trek" franchise.
Lin's rep confirmed the news Monday.
Lin is no stranger to franchises. He directed several of Universal's "Fast & Furious" films, including the massively successful "Fast & Furious 6," which made more than $788 million worldwide.
J.J. Abrams directed the first two films in the rebooted "Star Trek" series.
Roberto Orci was the co-writer on those first two films. He was slated to step into the director's chair after Abrams left to work on "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," but he exited that role in early December.
Orci will still serve as a writer and producer on the film. It's slated for a 2016 release.
MSNBC hosts Rachel Maddow, left, Lawrence O'Donnell, center, and Chris Matthews take part in a panel discussion at the NBC Universal summer press tour, Aug. 2, 2011, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Comcast's corporate reorganization means that there will soon be two television networks with "NBC" in their name — CNBC and MSNBC — that will no longer have any corporate connection to NBC News.
How that affects viewers of those networks, along with the people who work there, still needs to shake out. Their new corporate leader, Mark Lazarus, visited the set of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" as the plan was being announced on Wednesday and spoke to network staff members during a morning conference call to address concerns.
Comcast is spinning off most of its cable networks, also including USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel, into a separate company. That recognizes how streaming is considered the future and the cable networks are a drag on the bottom line.
In the space of a lifetime, the networks went from upstarts aside a legacy operation like NBC to profitable superstars to castoffs.
Questions range from the simple to complex
Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Universal Media Group, is becoming CEO of the newly-formed company of cable networks, temporarily dubbed "SpinCo." Cesar Conde, who as NBC Universal News Group chairman had oversight of CNBC and MSNBC, will lose those networks from his portfolio, yet remain in charge of NBC News, NBC News Now streaming, Telemundo and the news operations of the NBC-owned local stations.
The presence of Lazarus and Anand Kini, who will be chief operating officer and chief financial officer of SpinCo, is a good sign for the new company, said Jessica Reif Ehrlich, research analyst for the Bank of America. "You can't dismiss it as getting rid of the crappy assets, because these are talented executives," she said.
At MSNBC, questions about the future range from the... Read More
