Star Trek: Paramount+ Exec Offers Update on Michelle Yeoh’s Spinoff Series

Michelle Yeoh had a big night at the Golden Globes on Tuesday, including threatening to beat up the pianist when they tried to play her off the stage, and it turns out her future in Star Trek is still in the works. Yeoh is attached to lead a Star Trek series about the clandestine organization Section 31, reprising her role as Phillipa Georgiou from Star Trek: Discovery. News The first news about the series broke in early 2019, and there were plans to film its pilot immediately after Discovery wrapped its third season. It proved poor timing since Discovery finished filming the season right as the world went into lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, even as Yeoh’s star continues to rise, Tanya Giles, Paramount Streaming’s chief programming officer, tells TVLine at a Television Critics Association press tour that “conversations” are still happening about the series, confirming that it is “still in development.”

Giles’ comments echo what Nicole Clemens, Paramount+’s president of original scripted series, said during last year’s at the TCA Press Tour. She stated that the Paramount_ is “still in development on Section 31″ and teased that “there will be more news on [Section 31] soon.”  

Yeoh previously describe the Section 31 series, telling Entertainment Weekly that, “Section 31 is that [Star Trek] universe but different. It’s like Mission: Impossible meets Guardians of the Galaxy in space.”

Section 31 was put on the back burner while Alex Kurtzman and Paramount wait for one currently streaming Star Trek shows to run its course (Star Trek: Picard will end with its third season, which premieres in February). 

Section 31 before Paramount pressed pause. Star Trek head producer Alex Kurtzman, when last asked, was optimistic that the scripts they have already will eventually make it to production.

“We actually have a couple of [Section 31] scripts. COVID frankly, just changed the game for everybody and every show,” Kurtzman explained during a Producers Guild of America interview. “We were on a very specific schedule that then got thrown completely into whack because of COVID. Even Discovery season four started many months later than originally planned, Picard too. Everything got pushed… So we’re actually on a great track with Section 31 and I’m very optimistic about it.”

Star Trek: Discovery is streaming now on Paramount+. It’s fifth season debuts later this year.