"Star Trek: Section 31" is available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription, and that's the only place fans can go if they want to see the first film for the franchise in nearly nine years. Given the circumstances and Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh's involvement, I wondered why it didn't get a theatrical release.. CinemaBlend asked franchise head Alex Kurtzman for an answer and learned some surprising information regarding the future of the movies.
I was grateful to talk to executive producer Alex Kurtzman and director Olutande Osunsanmi ahead of "Star Trek: Section 31's" premiere, and asked why we couldn't see the action-packed title in theaters. Kurtzman is the driving force between upcoming Trek shows, so I assumed he had the answer, but he informed me that is not the case:
I was grateful to talk to executive producer Alex Kurtzman and director Olutande Osunsanmi ahead of "Star Trek: Section 31's" premiere, and asked why we couldn't see the action-packed title in theaters. Kurtzman is the driving force between upcoming Trek shows, so I assumed he had the answer, but he informed me that is not the case:
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00:00Why couldn't Section 31 be a theatrical release?
00:03I actually have nothing to do with that, is the truth.
00:06Those decisions are made by people above my pay grade.
00:10My focus has just been on the television shows.
00:13And because Section 31 started originally as a television show,
00:17and then through COVID and a million different things,
00:20and Michelle winning an Oscar and her schedule changing,
00:22it ended up making sense to make it as a film
00:25to best serve both the story but also
00:26to be able to accommodate Michelle.
00:28So it made sense to do that as a Paramount Plus film
00:32because it was already sort of part of that family.
00:35But as far as the larger vision for Star Trek
00:37beyond the TV shows, you'd have to ask Paramount.