Paramount+ seems to have finally realized that it has Michelle Yeoh just sitting on the sidelines of Star Trek and is doing nothing with her. Apparently, the star’s Academy Award win for Everything Everywhere All at Once jolted the streamer awake, and it’s finally moving forward with Star Trek: Section 31 — as a movie. Yes, instead of a series, the streamer is now planning to turn the project into an event film, Variety reports.
A Section 31 project of some sort has been in the works since 2019, after Yeoh played Emperor Philippa Georgiou in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. Georgiou is from Trek‘s mirror universe, where she ruled with an iron fist over the evil version of the Federation. However, she was pulled into the original universe during the course of the season and eventually came to be an antihero of sorts. In this Star Trek movie, she’ll be joining Section 31, a shadowy part of the Federation that works in morally dubious areas to uphold Starfleet’s values. Per the logline of the film, “Emperor Philippa Georgiou joins a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets and faces the sins of her past.”
“I’m beyond thrilled to return to my Star Trek family and to the role I’ve loved for so long,” said Yeoh. “Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of Star Trek launched. To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!”
Yeoh and Emperor Georgiou were some of the few bright spots in the mostly lackluster first season of Discovery, so giving her her own film to play in should be great. However, with Alex Kurtzman at the helm, you never know what kind of Trek you’re going to get, and Section 31 definitely lends itself to bad Trek, not good. Craig Sweeny (Limitless, Medium) serves as writer and executive producer for the film, and Olatunde Osunsanmi, who helmed episodes of Discovery, will direct.
The Star Trek: Section 31 Paramount+ movie is going into production later this year but does not have a release date yet. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was recently announced as well, a teen take on the franchise.
