Star Trek: Section 31 is available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription, and that's the only place fans can go if they want to see the first film for the franchise in nearly nine years. Given the circumstances and Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh's involvement, I wondered why it didn't get a theatrical release.. CinemaBlend asked franchise head Alex Kurtzman for an answer and learned some surprising information regarding the future of the movies.
I was grateful to talk to executive producer Alex Kurtzman and director Olutande Osunsanmi ahead of Star Trek: Section 31's premiere, and asked why we couldn't see the action-packed title in theaters. Kurtzman is the driving force between upcoming Trek shows, so I assumed he had the answer, but he informed me that is not the case:
I actually have nothing to do with that is the truth. Those decisions are made by people above my pay grade. My focus has just been on the television shows, and because Section 31 started originally as a television show and then through COVID and a million different things and Michelle winning an Oscar and her schedule changing, it ended up making sense to make it as a film to best serve both the story but also to be able to accommodate Michelle. So. It made sense to do that as a Paramount+ film because it was, you know, it was already sort of part of that family, but as far as the larger vision for Star Trek beyond the TV shows, you'd have to ask Paramount.
Alex Kurtzman was a big part of Star Trek's return to theaterical adventures long ago, having co-wrote the script for 2009's Star Trek and its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness. He's also served as co-creator on every live-action series for the franchise in the streaming era. So to hear he's not involved in what's happening with the vision for the film side and that upcoming origins movie we keep hearing about is a shock to this fan.
While it's not necessarily out of the ordinary for different people to dictate the direction of a franchise, one does have to wonder what's going on with this new Star Trek movie for it to sidestep one of the primary creatives behind the franchise's return to form over past decade and a half. It seems Paramount would sooner keep Kurtzman on what's working on the television side, while perhaps bring something new to theaters.
It's worth noting this quote was received before the reviews of Star Trek: Section 31 hit the internet, which was largely unfavorable. The movie currently has a 23% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics and 18% from the Audience Score. As mentioned by Alex Kurtzman, the movie originally started out as a series but was reconfigured into a film to accommodate Yeoh's busy schedule.
It remains to be seen how many people checked out the action film and whether this attempt to step outside of the traditional Star Trek adventure will encourage Paramount to greenlight further sequels with Michelle Yeoh back in the saddle. We also continue to be largely in the dark about what to expect from the next Trek movie on the big screen, though we know it's directed by Andor director Toby Haynes and written by Seth Grahame-Smith. My only hope is that it's tied to some of the franchise's successes on television in recent years, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Stream Star Trek: Section 31 on Paramount+, and check out the wide variety of content there as well. We're expecting Strange New Worlds to return before the end of the year, and hopefully, we'll get more news on that movie as well.
