Star Trek: Section 31 Movie Starring Michelle Yeoh: Casting News, Plot Details, Release Date
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More than five years after a Section 31-set Star Trek: Discovery spinoff series was officially put into development, production is now actually underway on what will now be a Michelle Yeoh-led movie.
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Paramount+ on Tuesday announced that production has begun in Toronto on Star Trek: Section 31, a “movie event” starring Academy Award winner Yeoh in the role of Emperor Philippa Georgiou.
Yeoh played USS Shenzhou captain Georgiou in Season 1 of Paramount+’s Star Trek: Discovery, but was killed off early on. She returned later that season as a ruthless mirror-universe counterpart, Emperor Georgiou, who wound up involved in Starfleet’s Section 31 — a covert element that was first introduced in the Deep Space Nine TV series, and played a role throughout Discovery Season 2.
“And we’re off to the races! Thrilled to report principal photography has started on Star Trek: Section 31,” executive producer Alex Kurtzman said in a statement. “We welcome our incredible cast of new characters as they join our beloved Michelle Yeoh on her next wild adventure across the Trek universe.”
Written by Craig Sweeny and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, Star Trek: Section 31 is executive produced by Kurtzman, Yeoh, Sweeny, Osunsanmi, Aaron Baiers, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth.
Here is everything (everywhere, all at once?) that we know about Star Trek: Section 31….
What Is Star Trek: Section 31 About?
In the Star Trek: Section 31 movie, Michelle Yeoh will reprise her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou – a character she played in Season 1 of Paramount+’s Star Trek: Discovery — who joins the titular secret division of Starfleet. While tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets, Georgiou also will have to face the sins of her past.
What Is the Titular ‘Section 31’?
Section 31, a clandestine arm of the United Federation of Planets that takes its name from Article 14, Section 31 of the 200-year-old Starfleet Charter, was first introduced in the Season 6 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Inquisition.”
In that episode, DS9 station was visited by Luther Sloan (guest star William Sadler), an agent from (so he claimed) Starfleet Internal Affairs who suspected that Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) was a Dominion spy.
But by episode’s end, Sloan admitted that he in fact worked for Section 31, “another branch of Starfleet Intelligence” that maintains “a low profile” as it seeks out and identifies potential dangers to the Federation. And when it finds one? “We deal with them. Quietly,” Sloan explained.
When Dr. Bashir contended that the “autonomous” Section 31 was acting as “judge, jury and executioner,” Sloan nodded, “It takes exception people to do what we do — people who can sublimate their ambitions to the best interests of the Federation.”
More recently, in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, Michelle Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou, Empress of the Mirror Universe’s Terran Empire, was an agent of Section 31 who in turn recruited Ash Tyler (played by Shazad Latif).
Who Has Been Cast in the Star Trek: Section 31 Movie?
Though no character details have been revealed as of yet, the full cast for Star Trek: Section 31, in addition to Michelle Yeoh, boasts Omari Hardwick (Power), Kacey Rohl (Hannibal), Emmy winner Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso, Veep), Sven Ruygrok (One Piece), Robert Kazinsky (EastEnders), Humberly Gonzalez (Ginny & Georgia) and James Hiroyuki Liao (Barry).
Who Will NOT Be Returning for the Section 31 Movie?
Set phasers for, “We’re a bit stunned!”
Though Ash Tyler was placed in command of Section 31 (well, in at least some timeline) in Star Trek: Discovery‘s Season 2 finale, a CBS Studios rep confirmed for TVLine that Shazad Latif will not appear in the Section 31 movie.
Latif next can be seen playing Captain Nemo in the Disney+-turned-AMC series Nautilus, due out this year.
Why Is Section 31 a Movie and Not a TV Series?
It was five years ago (Jan. 14, 2018) when Star Trek: Discovery‘s Section 31 offshoot was first put into development.
Since then, Michelle Yeoh went on to book/film roles in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings… the Academy Award-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once… Netflix’s The School for Good and Evil and The Witcher: Blood Origin… Disney+’s American Born Chinese… and Netflix’s The Brothers Sun.
Despite Yeoh’s status as a increasingly red-hot commodity, Tanya Giles, chief programming officer of Paramount Streaming, assured TVLine in January 2023 that a Section 31 project was “still in development.“
And it was — though come April 2023, it was announced that the spinoff series would now arrive in the form of a “special original movie event.”
Does Star Trek: Section 31 Have a Release Date?
Production on the Star Trek: Section 31 movie only got underway on Jan. 30, in Toronto, and a release timetable has not yet been set.
But eventually, Star Trek: Section 31 will be available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. (and in all international markets where the service is available).
Want scoop on the Section 31 movie, or for any Star Trek TV show ? Email InsideLine@tvline.com, and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
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