Michelle Yeoh to Star in New Star Trek Film

Filming has begun on the Paramount+ original film ‘Star Trek: Section 31’. The film stars Michelle Yeoh (also known as Yang Ziqing in Korea) as 'Philippa Georgiou'. Originally, this project was planned as a TV series starting in 2019. However, it seems that a TV series with an East Asian woman as the protagonist didn't receive sufficient investment. For over four years, there was no news about it.

The Star Trek project starring Michelle Yeoh gained momentum in 2023. This was thanks to the global success of ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ in 2022 and Michelle Yeoh's win of the Academy Award for Best Actress. A few months after the Academy Awards, in April 2023, Paramount finally provided an update on the project's status. They decided to produce the series as a Paramount+ original film and release it sometime in 2025.

Michelle Yeoh previously played the same character in the 2017 series ‘Star Trek: Discovery’. Philippa Georgiou was originally the mentor of the main character, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), but an evil version of Georgiou from a different multiverse crossed over into the main universe and took her place.

In the TV series, Michelle Yeoh played both versions of Georgiou and showcased some impressive action scenes. The villainous version of Georgiou, in particular, was praised for her charisma and complex portrayal as a villain who helps the protagonist.

Section 31 focuses on the villainous Georgiou’s activities as an agent for Starfleet Intelligence's Section 31. In ‘Discovery’ season 3, Philippa Georgiou traveled through time to the future, 1000 years later, but for some reason, returned to the present, leaving the main characters behind.

The director of the film is Olatunde Osunsanmi, who previously directed several ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ episodes centered around Philippa Georgiou. Alex Kurtzman and other producers from ‘Discovery’ are also involved in this project.

Filming for ‘Star Trek: Section 31’ is scheduled to last approximately six weeks, starting January 30th.