Michelle Yeoh’s long-awaited return in Star Trek: Section 31 lands on Paramount+ this Friday — watch for our spoiler-free review in just a few hours! — but the cast and crew behind the new streaming movie hit the red carpet in ice-cold New York City tonight.
 
We had the chance to catch up with franchise boss Alex Kurtzman about Section 31‘s transition from full series to television movie — with some extra comments from writer Craig Sweeny — along with a look ahead to where things are going next in the Star Trek universe.
 

TREKCORE: How did Section 31, which was originally conceived as a series, transition into a film instead?

ALEX KURTZMAN (executive producer): Well, we were on track for the series —  but then COVID hit and we had to shut down for a year. Then Michelle won an Oscar, and her schedule changed. But instead of walking away, she said, “I want to double-down on making this. My schedule’s different now, what can we do?”

And that’s how the movie was born; it was a lucky accident, in a way. We would love to do more TV movies like this.

CRAIG SWEENY (writer, Star Trek: Section 31): There was a lot of compression of ideas that led to the form the movie takes. We had written almost the entire season of a television show — and planned beyond that — so there was a lot of paring back. It was a unique experience; an enormous library of ideas to draw from, and anytime I was stuck I could take something from what was going to be Episode 7, or the character Dada Noe, who was going to be the bad guy of Episode 3.

We could repurpose those things here and there. But I love what we came up for the movie, and I loved what we had for the series. It was a little heartbreaking, losing everything that didn’t make it to the film, but I’m glad about what we ended up with.

KURTZMAN: What would have been a season-long arc for Georgiou ended up a two-hour arc, and it worked out really well for us. It was a blessing in disguise — because the movie is really a Western in many ways, following those Western paradigms.

A Western is about a character with a dark past, who’s running from their sins, who is asked to strap on their spurs one more time — to do the right thing and walk the path of redemption. That’s what we got to do, but we got to do it in the context of a space opera. That’s a really good story to tell in two hours, and a familiar story for a two-hour movie.

TREKCORE: Michelle is under so much demand after her Oscar win. What do you think is so special about Star Trek that brought her back to the franchise?

KURTZMAN: Well, I think we all feel fortunate to be part of Star Trek, because there really aren’t jobs when you get to have as much fun as you have — and get to put something so good out into the world that’s so meaningful to people. It’s really a special thing. And we all love each other a lot — so for her to be able to come and play the part again, revisit all the people that she loved from Discovery, it was lovely.

[Michelle Yeoh stops by for a moment.]

MICHELLE YEOH (Philippa Georgiou): I never left! Star Trek always will be a part of me, because I love that world, the community, the optimism and sense of hope — where in the future, we will be inclusive. We will have gender equality, and will work together with one goal in mind: peace for all of us. Those kind of messages have always been so involved in that world.

When Section 31 came to me while I was on Star Trek: Discovery, I was like, “I’m not letting this go! This is just too good to be true!” A character that is so flawed, but at the same time, so mysterious. There are so many stories to tell, and so much complexity… that’s a dream for any artist.

TREKCORE: Alex, can you tell us about anything in the pipeline for Star Trek right not?

KURTZMAN: I can’t tease anything that’s in development, but I can tell you that we’re about to start work on Season 4 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and we’re about two weeks from wrapping the first season of Starfleet Academy, which is really exciting.

I can’t wait for everybody to really meet the cast of Starfleet Academy, both the cadets and the instructors; it’s an incredibly fun cast. If you’re a Trek fan, you’ve always wondered what it’s like in the Academy — we’ve seen glimpses of it over the years, but Academy will be very special.

TREKCORE: So, no premiere date yet? [Laughs]

KURTZMAN: [Laughs] No, we’re still shooting!

Star Trek: Section 31 streams January 24 on Paramount+.