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It has been nine years since the lastStar Trekfilm was released in theaters with the critically acclaimed but box office disappointmentStar Trek Beyond. This marks the longest gap in the franchise’s history without cinematic installmentssince they moved to the big screenand is almost the exact amount of time betweenStar Trek: The Original Seriesgoing off the air andStar Trek: The Motion Picture. However, just because there has not been a theatrically releasedStar Trekfilm, that doesn’t mean there won’t be a newfilm in the franchise.Star Trek: Section 31is set to debut on Paramount+ on Jun 26, 2025, and will mark the first non-theatrically released film in the franchise’s history.
Section 31stars Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou, a character fromStar Trek: Discoverywith a long, complicated backstory, who is now the lead of her own streaming film. Originally conceived as a spin-off television series toStar Trek: Discoveryin November 2018, plans were changed toturn the project into a streaming filmin late 2022 asStar Trek: Discoveryshowrunner Alex Kurtzman rightfully realized that Michelle Yeoh would win an Academy Award and her schedule would likely be too busy to fit in a television series but they could use this new-found stardom to build off an existing character within the franchise.Star Trek: Section 31is a game changer for the franchise and separatesStar Trekfrom its contemporaries like the MCU, DCU, andStar Wars.
Star Trek’s First Streaming Movie Is a Big Move for the Franchise
Since television’s creation, there has been a dividing line between the medium and film, with television typically seen as less than. Even when multi-media franchises had television and film components, likeStar Trekin the mid-80s and 1990s, television shows were often seen as supporting the movies. Even as the Golden Age of television took off, there was still a clear dividing line between television and movie projects.
Despite being a very popular Flash,Grant Gustin was not considered for the movies. Instead, Ezra Miller was cast because the assumption was that movies needed to be seen as separate and more accessible. The MCU movies never referenced the ABC and Netflix Marvel series, and it took until Disney+ for the lines between TV and film to blur. However, even then, the idea of a movie seems reserved for theatrical releases, with streaming primarily for television show expansion. Streaming films are often reserved for smaller or mid-budget movies, typically comedies or horror films.
YetStar Trek: Section 31is going where no multi-media franchise has gone before: live-action non-theatrical movies(okay, second, but do you want to count those 2000 Cartoon Network era live-actionScooby-Doomovies?). While Warner Bros. seemingly was going down that path with planned DCEU entries for Max, likeBatgirlandWonder Twins,those plans and films were canceled.Star Trek: Section 31can now create a new format forStar Trekto tell stories and for other franchises to take note of. Maybe it will inspire Marvel to revive the characters from long-finished television series likeAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.orThe Runawaysinto television films, giving fans a chance to revisit fan-favorite characters without the demands of a long television series or the worry about how a movie will appeal to a broad audience to make a large box office earning to justify its existence.
Solves an Issue That Plagues Modern Streaming Series
One issue with many franchise prestige television series is that they take concepts and pitches originally intended for films but then stretch them out into a television series. BothThe Book of Boba FettandObi-Wan Kenobiwere initially planned to beStar Warsfeature films that were changed to streaming series following the box officefailure ofSolo: A Star Wars Storyand the surprise success ofThe Mandalorianmade Disney pivotStar Warsfrom film to television. The problem is that many of the projects were not structured like television shows and instead are long movies, leaving a lot of padding and not a lot of forward momentum happening in episodes with traditional A, B, and C plots. The equation is that streaming releases equal television series that hurt those projects.
Star Trek: Section 31is the opposite, taking a television series and putting it into a film. This can be a mixed bag, as seen withMoana 2dropping the character developmentof all the side characters that were planned when it was a Disney+ series. However,Section 31might show that just because a concept might not have the broad appeal to a wide audience for a theatrically released movie to be a blockbuster,making a straightforward, self-contained streaming movie is a better alternative than ballooning a story into a television seriesnot taking advantage of the television format.
15 Famous Actors You Probably Forgot Were in Old Star Trek Movies
Star Trek has been… and always shall be… filled with famous actors.
IfStar Trek: Section 31is a hit with critics and fans on Paramount+, and assuming it didn’t have a ridiculous budget that would make it a waste on a streaming platform,it could lead to a new subset of smallerStar Trekfilms. While Paramount Picturesstruggles to getStar Trek 4into theaters, a series of Paramount+Star Trekstreaming movies could allow the creators to revisit fan-favorite characters and concepts that might be too risky for a theatrical experience but also not enough to support a long-form television return.
Series likeDeep Space Nine,Voyager, andEnterprisenever got the live-action film treatment thatThe Next Generationdid because they were seen as more niche series at the time to support theatrical films. A Paramount+ Original streaming film could rectify that and give those series revivals in a large-scale, self-contained format. It also sets the stage for the new era ofStar Trekprojects to get film continuations if desired.Star Trek: Discovery,Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,Star Trek: Lower Decks, andStar Trek: Picardare just a few titles that could get continuations in the form of streaming films that otherwise might not be in theatrical films.
Paramount+ Needs More Star Trek
Star Trekis a major brand for Paramount and one that they have been very protective of over the years. It is such a valuable property that when they first launched their streaming service, which was then called CBS All Access,Star Trek: Discoverywas one of the launch titles. For both CBS All Access and then Paramount+, the goal seemed to be to always have aStar Trekseries on. When one series would wrap up, another one would begin, which made Paramount+ a must-have for Trekkers. They also used the popularity ofStar Trekto attract audiences to other titles on Paramount+.
Yet that age of there always being aStar Trekseries, from 2021 to 2023, is over for Paramount+.Star Trek: Picard,Star Trek: Discovery, andStar Trek: Lower Decksall have concluded, while theunderratedStar Trek: Prodigywas canceledand then moved over to Netflix.Star Trek: Strange New Worldswill return for Season 3 sometime in the near future, and there are new series in the works, includingStarfleet Academyand a planned live-action comedy.
10 Classic ‘Star Trek’ Storylines That Would Be Perfect for ‘Star Trek 4’
These episodes from across the ‘Star Trek’ franchise could form a great basis for the long-in-development ‘Star Trek 4.’
TheStar Treklandscape on Paramount+ is rather empty. While the streaming service now has the work of Taylor Sheridan, likeMayor of Kingstown,Landman,Tulsa King, andLioness, to anchor its slate, it also needsStar Trekto give it a bit of diversity in programming. One bigStarTrek-themed streaming film on Paramount+ could be an event similar to howDoctor WhoChristmas Specialshave become must-watch for fans of that series.
There is a chance thatStar Trek: Section 31and a series ofStar Trekstreaming exclusive movies could water down the importance or need for theatricalStar Trekfilms, hurting the already vulnerable film franchise. Yet ifStar Trektelevision series are not seen as a danger, why would a streaming movie be? In many ways,Star Trek: Section 31feels like the perfect marriage ofStar Trek’s rich history on television, on film, and in the streaming era.Star Trek: Section 31could change everything for the franchise.Star Trek: Section 31is streaming on Paramount+ on January 24.
