STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Spinoff to Star Michelle Yeoh
Both Deadline and Variety are reporting that Michelle Yeoh is set to star in a spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery. She’ll reprise her role as Phillippa Georgiou, who was last seen (in a deleted scene) being recruited for Section 31 at the end of the first season of the CBS All Access program.
Yeoh is also set to continue on Discovery, which launches its second season this Thursday.
“Michelle has shattered ceilings, broken boundaries, and astonished us with her grace and gravitas for decades,” executive producer Alex Kurtzman said. “As a human, I adore her. As an actor, I revere her. Erika and Boey are remarkable, exciting writers who bring a fresh perspective to the world of ‘Star Trek,’ and we’re all thrilled to explore the next wild chapter in the life of Captain Philippa Georgiou.”
“I’m so excited to continue telling these rich ‘Star Trek’ stories,” said Yeoh. “Being a part of this universe and this character specifically has been such a joy for me to play. I can’t wait to see where it all goes – certainly I believe it will go ‘where no WOMAN has ever gone before!’”
Co-executive producers will be Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt, who are writing the script, and Aaron Baiers. The series will be produced by CBS Television Studios, Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment. Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth will be executive producers.
This is just one of several series planned for CBS All Access: the untitled Picard project starring Sir Patrick Stewart, the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks from Rick & Morty creator Mike McMahan, an additional animated series (that may or may not live on All Access), and the Short Treks series of short films.
Yeoh is fresh from the success of Crazy Rich Asians, and has been featured in films such as Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and its sequel, along with The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. In Hong Kong, she’s known as the “queen of martial arts” and will usually do her own stunt work, according to her listing on IMDb. She also had a quick cameo playing Aleta Ogord, one of Marvel Comics’ original Guardians of the Galaxy in the first installment of that film series.
Section 31 is a clandestine organization, a dark secret agency within the Federation. It was introduced on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and was featured in a series of novels from Pocket Books.
