The next ‘phase’ of Alex Kurtzman’s plans for the “Star Trek” franchise at Paramount+ are starting to come into focus.
Earlier this week came the news the streaming service will premiere “Star Trek: Section 31,” a new film that will see Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh return to the franchise – reprising her role from “Star Trek: Discovery”.
THR now has further details about the announcement, revealing the originally conceived as a series project began its conversion into a tentpole feature film for the platform last Summer.
Kurtzman reportedly saw “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and realized the role would likely earn Yeoh awards recognition – and a packed schedule that would struggle to find time for a series.
In addition, Paramount was reportedly concerned about having too many ‘Trek’ shows on the air at once whilst also desiring to enter the feature film event space on its service – resulting in the decision to turn “Section 31” into a film.
The trade indicates the project is being pitched as “Mission: Impossible meets Guardians of the Galaxy,” with the same ‘big scope’ of both films. Production will begin later this year.
The big news though is the plan is for Kurtzman and company to do a similarly significant “Star Trek” made-for-streaming event movie every two years for the Paramount+ service.
Kurtzman, who co-wrote 2009’s “Star Trek” and 2013’s “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is behind the upcoming teen-focused “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” series, which will begin production in spring 2024 for a 2025 launch.
The news comes as the series finale of “Star Trek: Picard” has just become available, and the first trailer for the second season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” arrived online yesterday ahead of its June 15th premiere.
A fourth season of “Star Trek: Lower Decks” is due out later this year, whilst a fifth and final season of “Star Trek: Discovery,” a third season of ‘Strange New Worlds’ and a fifth season of ‘Lower Decks’ are all due to air in 2024.
Source: THR
