Michelle Yeoh Is Coming To Save Star Trek
Star Trek movies have been missed, with the last film in the series coming out way back in 2016. Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh recently finished filming her upcoming streaming film Section 31, which could herald a new age of Star Trek films going forward. It seems like Paramount Pictures has had trouble getting big screen outings for the franchise off the ground, but streaming movies could be an effective solution for the franchise’s film future.
Section 31 Coming To Streaming
Michelle Yeoh’s Section 31 was initially pitched as a TV series before it was turned into a streaming film, and Yeoh has described it with the tantalizing pitch as “Mission: Impossible in space.” The film is set to follow Yeoh’s character from Discovery, Phillipa Georgiou (actually the Mirror Universe version of the character), as an agent of the titular secret division of Starfleet. The film also stars Omari Hardwick, Kacey Rohl, Sam Richardson, Sven Ruygrok, Robert Kazinsky, Humberly Gonzalez, and James Hiroyuki Liao.
A New Frontier For Star Trek
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, Michelle Yeoh’s Section 31 certainly looks like a promising project. The budget for the film isn’t as significant as the big-screen Kelvin timeline films, and the production process is likely a little faster as well. If the series ends up being a success, this could encourage Paramount Pictures to green-light more of the streaming films.
Even if all the streaming films don’t end up being massive successes, it would give creators some flexibility to make more stories in the Star Trek universe. Paramount Pictures may not be as willing to take on the risk of a brand new TV series, but a one-and-done film could be a lot more palatable from a resources perspective. Especially if big talents like Michelle Yeoh are attached to the projects.
Yeoh Already Wants To Make A Sequel
Michelle Yeoh also seems committed to the franchise, as she expressed she would be open to doing a sequel if Section 31 is successful. It’s not hard to imagine that Section 31 could drum up some significant viewing numbers with Yeoh’s involvement and the fact that Star Trek fans are starved for a new film. Although there are many Trek shows on offer at the moment, sometimes fans just want a complete story told in a few hours or less.
A Picard Spin-Off
Variety had an extensive feature about the upcoming Star Trek projects and the future of the franchise, and even Paramount is apparently considering more streaming format films. Along with Michelle Yeoh’s Section 31, there is apparently a follow-up to Picard in consideration. With Picard’s final season being so well-received, this news is welcome but not too surprising.
Return To The Kelvinverse
Of course, Paramount isn’t moving Star Trek films to streaming altogether, as the Variety feature also revealed two films destined for theaters are still being worked on. One was the confirmation that Paramount intends to finally put together the “final chapter” of the Kelvin timeline films, with Steve Yockey putting together a new version of the script and the cast members returning. The other interesting tidbit is that there is apparently an “origin story” film in the works, but we’ll have to wait for more details about that one.
Source: Variety
