TrekMovie has a brief piece summarizing part of an SFX cover feature on "Section 31," mostly focusing on the changes the project went through on the journey from series to movie.
That got me wondering what else was in the SFX feature, and eventually I remembered that I have a library card, which I can use to access magazines. So...I did that, and here's a summary of what I learned.
The centrepiece of the feature is an interview with Olatunde Osunsanmi, the director. He spends some time talking about the nuts and bolts of "Star Trek City," which is what they call the Toronto production offices. He talks about the benefits of being able to redress existing sets, including repurposing the Federation HQ set from Discovery to be the "Section 31 outpost safe house." On the topic of being economical, he also mentions how "Section 31" has been a unique experience, as they didn't have to build sets for future use - if their plan for a given scene didn't require a full set, they could safely choose not to build that fourth wall, or incorporate lighting that they wouldn't need for this specific movie.
As TrekMovie reported, he talked about the evolution from series to film. He estimates that there have been seven iterations of the project, including a couple of versions of the series, some subsequent pilot scripts, and then a couple of versions of the movie that they eventually made. He says:
"I would say the only two things that are the same from the original series pilot to the movie that we've got now is that there is a character named Alok and Philippa Georgiou."
He says that the movie's writer, Craig Sweeny, has been involved since the entire process.
Osunsanmi goes into a surprising amount of detail about what he calls the "phase fight," which the article describes as "an extended Dune-esque battle that's spread across sets and involves moving though walls." This sequence reportedly goes through at least seven different sets.
He also mentions the movie's final fight, which he describes as having an emotional component:
"But that fight went through probably the most iterations of different choreography and character beats that I've ever been through, because for me, and particularly for Michelle Yeoh, every fight, every action sequence, is actually an extension of the character."
He goes on to describe the degree to which Yeoh has been involved throughout the project's development, including giving character notes and developing the fight choreography.
The movie gives a "glimpse" into the origins of the Emperor, and Osunsanmi has high praise for Miku Martineau, who plays young Georgiou.
Finally, he acknowledges that if successful, "Section 31" could open the doors to future streaming movies:
"If the audience - the fans - they love it, the sky's the limit with what we can do. The wonderful thing about what Craig Sweeny and Alex Kurtzman have done here is similar to what they did on Discovery, in which we've created a foundation by which other things can grow out of."
"I think I might get into a bit of trouble if I expand upon that.
There are also brief interviews with Robert Kazinsky, who plays Zeph (the guy in the mech suit), and Sam Richardson, who plays Quasi (the Chameloid).
Robert Kazinsky
I'm terrified of how it's going to be received, because it's not the Trek people want. The Trek that people want, the Trek that we all want, is just 1,000 more episodes of TNG. Everyone's always furious that they're not getting more TNG, whilst at the same time, when TNG came out, everybody hated it...so for you to tell me that it still feels like Trek whilst being a completely different flavour of Trek, that encourages me. In 10 years time, we'll look back and we'll love every single one of these Treks.
He also talks at length about the backstory he and Craig Sweeny came up with for Zeph (which, from the sounds of things, doesn't actually factor in to the movie). The idea is that he used to work with Section 31, and as an engineer and biomechanist, he experimented on himself until he destroyed his own spinal column, and he now spends all of his time in the mech suit to remain mobile.
It sounds like the suit itself was a fairly miserable, smelly experience to film in, and the various components of it would occasionally break. He jokes that if there's a sequel, maybe he can play Zeph's twin brother Jeff, who doesn't have to wear it.
He also says this, which I found interesting:
Seeing Klingons and Andorians, it's everything that you want it to be, with people who exceed every aspect that you want them to exceed.
We'll have to see what these Klingons look like...
He also says that this is his dream job, and he'd do it for free (but he doesn't want Kurtzman to hold him to that).
Lastly, he says that he considers Zeph to be the heart of the team:
mostly because he's just innocent and full of love. He just loves his team, and doing what he's doing. He's really happy to just be bouncing around, smashing stuff. He just really enjoys it. He's never in a bad mood. He's painfully optimistic.
Sam Richardson
Most importantly, Richardson has decided that Quasi has modeled his appearance on the most handsom man in Federation history, from 2024...Sam Richardson.
Quasi is in the second-in-command role on the team, and out of the main characters is the least trusting of Georgiou.
Richardson talks a little bit about working out the characters' motivations, as they are "pointing in the direction of ultimate good, but our ways are a little bit more circumvent-y," which gave them some space to figure out what, exactly, that meant for everyone.
He also mentions that not everyone makes it out of the movie alive, which is perhaps unsurprising. He would love to come back to do more, "if Quasi is around at the end of this one."
Those are the things that jumped out at me, but there's more to the feature than just that - I encourage you to check out the magazine if you're able, and at the very least, support your local library!
It's still on track to close within the next few months.
I have my doubts that the tv side of Trek will be affected too much, but maybe the new management will be able to remove some of the roadblocks on the theatrical side.