Michelle Yeoh will star in Star Trek: Section 31 movie on Paramount+

"Such Sweet Sorrow" -- Ep#213 -- Pictured: Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: John Medland/CBS ©2018 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"Such Sweet Sorrow" -- Ep#213 -- Pictured: Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: John Medland/CBS ©2018 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Michelle Yeoh is hot off a Best Actress Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All at Once. That was a new high point in a career that has spanned decades of great work, and it doesn’t sound like she’s slowing down. To wit: Variety reports that Yeoh will headline a new Star Trek movie for Paramount+: Star Trek: Section 31.

Yeoh first appeared in the Star Trek universe on Star Trek: Discovery as Captain Philippa Georgiou. That character was killed off pretty quickly, but Yeoh came back as an alternate universe version of the character named Emperor Philippa Georgiou. It’s she who will headline the new film as she “joins a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets and faces the sins of her past.”

According to Star Trek czar Alex Kurtzman, Yeoh herself got the idea for a spinoff way back in 2017, before the first season of Discovery had even aired. “Everyone on Team ‘Trek’ couldn’t be more thrilled to have our legendary friend return home to us as we expand our storytelling into new and uncharted corners of the Trekverse. Long live Emperor Georgiou; long live Michelle Yeoh!”

Michelle Yeoh is “beyond thrilled” to return to Star Trek

Star Trek has been on a spinoff binge of late; we already have DiscoveryPicardProdigyLower Decks and Strange New Worlds on the air, with a show about Starfleet Academy on the way. We’d heard about a Section 31 spinoff in the works, but assumed it was a show. At one point it may have been, but this is its final form.

“I’m beyond thrilled to return to my Star Trek family and to the role I’ve loved for so long,” Yeoh said in a statement. “Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of Star Trek launched. To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!”

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h/t The A.V. Club