Fans of the "Fast and Furious" might have been disappointed by the announcement that director Justin Lin is not coming back to steer his fifth contribution to the adrenalin-pumping movie franchise but fans of "The Bourne Identity" will surely celebrate as Lin will take the reigns for the "Bourne 5," a sequel to spy-action "The Bourne Legacy" flick directed by Tony Gilroy.
Lin had to leave the successful fast car series that he steered to box office success from the "Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift" and the "Fast and Furious 6" due to scheduling issues. His role was critical in the last installments that grossed roughly a billion dollars collectively.
Entertainment blog Deadline was first to report on the announcement of Universal pictures.
"Universal Pictures has tapped the director of one of the studio's most lucrative and successful franchises to take on the fifth installment of The Bourne Identity franchise," Mike Fleming Jr. of Deadline wrote.
"I'm hearing a summer 2015 release is being eyed for this one, though the studio is saying it doesn't know when it will open," he added.
The script for the fifth film will be written by Anthony Peckham who penned the screen adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.
The movie will be produced by Frank Marshall, Jeffrey Weiner, and Ben Smith. Lin will also co-produce carrying the banner of Perfect Storm Productions.
"The Bourne" franchise kicked off starring Matt Damon playing the character of Jason Bourne with Paul Greengrass on the director's chair. After the successful trilogy of the espionage flick, both men decided to move on. Jeremy Renner came to the scene playing the part of Aaron Cross with director Tony Gilroy at the helm.
"Listen, I loved the Bourne movies. I loved making them but it's like anything in life: you've got to move on and do different things," said director Greengrass in an interview.
As for Universal Pictures, it has a lot on its plate at the moment with expected sequels to the "Jurassic Park" and "The Mummy."
"The Bourne Legacy" that was released in 2012 raked in $276 million.
