Rumor: Star Trek’s Section 31 Series Will Begin Filming In May

Jorge Arenas |

Jan 27, 2020

A new rumor indicates the Star Trek: Discovery spin-off series Section 31 starring Michelle Yeoh will begin filming in May in Mississauga, Canada.

The rumor comes from a Geeks World Wide exclusive that details production on the show will begin on May 4th as Michelle Yeoh will reprise her role as Philippa Georgiou.

Not only do they reveal that production will begin in May, but they also indicate it was pushed back so Yeoh could film the upcoming Marvel Studios movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

News about a Section 31 spin-off has been few and far between as momentum to produce the show has flipped from hot to cold, and back to hot again over the last few years.

The last update about the series from CBS came back in December as CBS All Access executive vice president of original content, Julie McNamara confirmed that scripts are in the process of being written.

McNamara told Vanity Fair:

“We are very excited about the Section 31 show and Michelle Yeoh is excited to do it. She is in the current season of Discovery so she’s working on that right now but we have scripts getting written, and Alex has a writer’s room.”

Not only did McNamara confirm scripts were being written, but she detailed how the show will differ from Picard and Discovery.

“We love what we’ve heard so far. It’s yet another tonality of Trek. As Alex has mapped it all out, each show has its own unique sort of voice and vision.”

CBS Provides Update on Status of Star Trek Section 31 Show Starring Michelle Yeoh

On that subject, Alex Kurtzman was asked about the tonality of the show. He made clear that it would be a unique entry into the Star Trek universe, pointing at the story arcs seen on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Kurtzman commented:

“What we don’t want is for you to watch one show and be like, well I don’t really need to watch that other Star Trek show cause I’ve already watched Discovery or whatever. So to me Section 31 is sort of like the black ops CIA division of Star Trek and it was established in Deep Space 9.”

He would elaborate even more by pointing to the movie, Unforgiven, explaining that Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou would be put “to the test.”

“It occupies an area of the Trek universe that’s never really been explored geographically. It has a new mythology to it, which is very interesting. And it puts Michelle’s character to the test in a lot of ways that Discovery can’t. In some ways it will be her Unforgiven, I would say.”

For those who don’t know Section 31 is a Black Ops division of Starfleet that most don’t even know exists.

This clip from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine hits a few points of what Section 31 is within the Trek universe:

This isn’t the first go-around with the Federation’s black ops for Kurtzman. The organization was behind the events of the film Star Trek: Into Darkness and almost sparked a war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. It makes me wonder if we’ll see a Section 31 closer to the Alpha timeline or the Kelvin one.

If the rumor is true, then filming begins in early May. That means the earliest audiences will see Section 31 will be sometime in 2021. What do you think of a Section 31 series?