Star Trek Movie Sets Production Date, Finally Happening

Star Trek: Section 31 was originally announced back in April of this year. Michelle Yeoh will be reprising her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou from Star Trek: Discovery for the film, which will be a Paramount+ exclusive. Paramount originally planned for the Section 31 movie to be a series spun off from the successful Star Trek: Discovery. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the studio to change the project into a movie-length event.

Michelle Yeoh originally described Star Trek: Section 31 as “Mission: Impossible meets Guardians of the Galaxy.” It’s unknown if this is still an accurate description of Section 31, however, thanks to a shift in the creative team when the project made the leap from series to movie. The official synopsis for the movie mentions Emperor Philippa Georgiou joining a clandestine Starfleet division while her past comes back to haunt her—not exactly a great indicator of what the series’ tone will be.

Craig Sweeny wrote the screenplay for Star Trek: Section 31, with Olatunde Osunsanmi taking the role of director. Sweeny, Osunsanmi, Yeoh, Alex Kurtzman, Aaron Baiers, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth all serve as executive producers on the film.

When the project was announced back in April, Michelle Yeoh announced that she was “beyond thrilled” to be reuniting with what she affectionately calls her “Star Trek family.” Yeoh went on to say that Section 31 had been “near and dear” to her ever since she first played the Emperor on Star Trek: Discovery and that seeing the character finally “get her moment” was a dream come true for the actress.

Producer Alex Kurtzman admitted that Yeoh had the idea for a Star Trek: Section 31 spinoff “All the way back in 2017, before the first season of Star Trek: Discovery had even aired.” Meanwhile, David Stapf, president of CBS Studios, declared that the studio had been “looking forward to Michelle Yeoh one day returning to Star Trek” for quite a while now. Stapf pointed out Yeoh’s “powerful performance” as Emperor Georgiou as a “pivotal moment for the return of the franchise” and said that the role “resonated with fans around the world.”Domenic DiMeglio, the chief marketing officer and head of data at Paramount Streaming, also expressed his delight over Yeoh’s return to the Star Trek universe with Section 31. DiMeglio called Yeoh an “incomparable talent” and described the way she portrayed Emperor Georgiou as “fun” and “nuanced.” DiMeglio identified the character as a “fan favorite.”

As for the other Star Trek franchise, J.J. Abrams‘ slick, theatrical reimagining of the original Star Trek crew, it appears to be in limbo at the moment. With Star Trek Beyond coming out over seven years ago, fans are desperately waiting for another outing for Chris Pine and his alternate Star Trek timeline. With nothing concrete other than Abrams’ assurances that he’s still working on a fourth movie, fans will have to settle for the upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 to scratch their itch for movie-length content.