Last month saw the release of Star Trek: Section 31, the first streaming TV movie for the franchise. The film starring Michelle Yeoh struggled with fans and critics, but it appears it still brought in viewers for Paramount+.
Section 31 is #8
Nielsen has released their top 10 streaming charts for the week of January 20 – 26, which covers the release date of Star Trek: Section 31 on January 24th. Even though the film was only out for three days of that week, it still made its way onto the top 10 chart for streaming movies. Section 31 was ranked 8th with 170 million minutes viewed, as you can see in the chart below.
Section 31 was the only Paramount+ movie to make the list for the week. It is one of only two original streaming movies, with the other being the top film, Netflix’s Back in Action. The Prime Video film Unstoppable (coming in at #7) also only had a short limited theatrical release in December.
The live-action Star Trek TV shows have consistently shown up on the Nielsen streaming charts; the most recent was the final season of Discovery.
Behind-the-scenes videos
For those who want to know more about Section 31, Paramount has released some behind-the-scenes videos looking at how the streaming movie was made.
More Section 31
Read more of our Section 31 coverage:
- Podcast: All Access Star Trek Goes To The ‘Section 31’ Press Junket And The NYC Red Carpet Premiere
- Interview: Humberly González On Head-Shaving Worries And Melle’s Deltan Backstory In ‘Star Trek: Section 31’
- Review: ‘Star Trek: Section 31’ Is A TV Movie
- Interview: Alex Kurtzman On The Evolution Of ‘Section 31’ And What He Has Learned Running Star Trek TV
- Interview: Rob Kazinsky On Star Trek Making The World Better And The Challenges Of His ‘Section 31’ Mech Suit
- Interview: Kacey Rohl Ponders Rachel Garrett’s Challenges And Representing Starfleet In ‘Star Trek: Section 31’
- Interview: Michelle Yeoh Talks Georgiou’s Ongoing Redemption In ‘Star Trek: Section 31’
- Interview: Sven Ruygrok Explains Fuzz’s ‘Star Trek: Section 31’ Species Backstory
- Interview: Omari Hardwick On Alok’s Connection To Star Trek’s Dark History In ‘Section 31’
- Watch: Michelle Yeoh Brings ‘Section 31’ Clip To Colbert, Talks Love Of Star Trek
- Interview: Alex Kurtzman On How ‘Section 31’ Embodies Star Trek Values, And The Future Of The Franchise
- Early Thoughts On ‘Star Trek: Section 31’ (Spoiler-Free)
- All Access Star Trek podcast review of Section 31
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com
I’m not surprised it made the list. I’d like to see some context though. New movies will always have a bump, where’d it stack up against past performers? How many in that list are new releases? Things like that. I’m sure rewatch numbers are a much bigger challenge.
I agree! I am sure lots of people tuned into the first viewing just not sure the rewatch potential is there for most Star Trek fans. Hope it does convince the creative types to give it another shot though.
Yeah, we thought that the bad reviews and most viewers not having good things to say could be a death knell for any other potential Trek streaming movie, but maybe the Michelle Yeoh effect they banked on helped? Who knows.
I bet someone said the same thing when TNG premiered. Let’s cut to the chase. Most trek fan are pathetic haters.
Nope. TNG’s first episode got high ratings for the time, millions of people more than any show/movie on this list. Let’s cut to the chase, the “creative stewards” of NuTrek seem incapable of making good Star Trek.
In all fairness, it wasn’t entirely clear that Gene Roddenberry was capable of making good Trek after a lot of us watched “Encounter at Far Point”. The ratings were there but season 1 was a rough ride.
That said, yeah, there wasn’t a lack of interest for TNG. There was, however, an apparent lack of interest in Section 31.
But that was also a time reinventing Star Trek was considered a dangerous endeavor and it was all new.
38 years later they should know how to avoid making utter crap like Section 31 and what appeals to the fanbase today. It certainly isn’t this.
And TNG actually looked like Star Trek. This movie looks like someone making Star Trek without ever seeing an episode of it first. Seriously how did this ever get approved??
Yeah that’s the issue, we really have no context. Is that common numbers for a movie? What’s the average baseline for new releases?
Moat of the films on the list carried over from the week before. The only other new release that week was The Wild Robot.
Which in itself wasn’t a NEW release, per se. The only thing that was REALLY new on there was that spy movie Back in Action.
Yup.
Section 31 and The Wild Robot were the only two films on the list to debut that week.
The Picard Season 3 finale came in at 400 million minutes. Obviously not an original film but it does provide some perspective on the level of interest.
Exactly. These ratings are pretty weak.
It got some eyes. Not sure it did the franchise much good in the long run
No, but I don’t think it did much harm either, honestly.. if the incoming suits like Academy, then it will just be a blip on the radar. If they don’t, then it could be the first real part of the snowball effect for Kurtzman. I’ll believe he’s in real trouble when it happens. I do think the streaming model is a 50/50 proposition for the studio when it comes to Trek. There is an inherent part of it that makes it a tough sell, regardless of how good the output is, since the streaming wars are all but done.
While it wasn’t for me, I’ll give credit where it’s due: Congrats to the creators of S31 for this accomplishment!
It’s not an accomplishment just to people to watch… it’s supposed to have audiences like it. People watch car accidents as they drive by too.
This is an appalling result. Less than 2 million viewers! Those are early 2000s Syfy channel ratings.
Maybe that’s considered good given that P+ is by far from the biggest streaming platform? Everything is relative.
Maybe but some of the Taylor Sheridan shows gets over four times the viewers there normally. His biggest shows gets around 800-900 million minutes. Even other Trek shows like Picard and SNW pulled in much more week to week on an average basis around 300 million minutes. Discovery did less in its final season than those but still higher than what Section 31 pulled when it made the top 10 as well. But if people want to know why there are less Star Trek shows and more Taylor Sheridan shows these days, that’s clearly why.
Everything is relative but Paramount+ still has around 70 million subscribers right now. But maybe it’s considered decent for a Star Trek product? Maybe it is but when the TV shows get higher views I just don’t think it’s considered a hit either.
No it’s not. paramount is being sold off due to their failed streaming strategy.
No, that’s horrible. Shows with higher viewings have been cancelled on that site.
It’s only in the top 10 because most of those movies are old. But that Despicable Me franchise is still killing it all these years later! Got to give them their flowers.
As Kirk said about the tribble liking Nilz Barris: “Well, there’s no accounting for taste.”
People watched it because Yeoh and Star Trek. That doesn’t mean they liked it.
It has a 3.8 on IMDB, easily the lowest rated Trek entity there. The second lowest is The Final Frontier and even that has a 5.5.
That is ridiculously bad.
And there are many fans like me that are going to watch it at least once, even as bad as preliminary word on this was. I had to see for myself. Can’t bash it here without seeing it.
Most of us watched it because despite it all we do want to like everything in Star Trek because we are fans. I was hoping to be proven wrong and I would like it in the end like I did when I saw Beyond; which I also had zero enthusiasm before it came out.
This didn’t turn out the same way…
I think it fell off of P+ own top 10 movie list a week after premiering.
Makes sense. After everyone sees it once, no one really has to bother seeing it again.
Once was enough for me.
Can you imagine if they actually made a good movie, not even a great one, but a good one….we would be on number 1!
We? That’s a very odd perspective it and part of the problem with fandoms these days.
I’m reading all these comments and scratching my head wondering why everyone is so upset that there was a bad movie, and so eager to prove that nobody watched it.
It’s a tv show franchise. Shakes head.
Are you saying people should be happy it wasn’t a good movie? Don’t understand your point there. Most people generally don’t like when something turns out bad. That’s a natural reaction to have.
And no one is eager to prove no one watched it, they are just citing the numbers provided. It’s in the top 10 so obviously someone watched it, but still seem extremely low since the Star Trek shows themselves usually get much higher viewing numbers.
And this was only made because it starred an ‘Oscar winner’ and Trek’s first streaming movie, but it didn’t translate to any real hype at the end of the day. Now it feels like people are watching it just to see if it is really as bad as all the reviews are saying it is. Not a great foot to start off with.
I’m saying that referring to trek as “we” is a problem with fandom. People can’t just move on from a bad movie or tv show that’s part of a franchise they like because people have become so mentally ill to pop culture that these CORPORATE BRANDS have become a part of their identity.
So when a bad movie comes along, they can’t just turn it off and get on with their lives. Because they see it as a personal attack on their own character.
Now, it’s not entirely their fault: studios have spent decades and millions of dollars to lure in fans and make them feel like they are part of a family, catering to every whim, flooding them with merchandise that decorated your home, your office, etc. that reinforced this idea that your happiness is dictated by how good your favorite franchise is.
I mean just think about it: a billion dollar, corporately-run BUSINESS FRANCHISE puts out a bad PRODUCT and people are legitimately upset and angry about it. Even after not enjoying product after product, these people are still buying and still angry. The psychology is astounding. Go to rehab.
It’s truly sad.
Thats true but that’s how it works in most fandom for decades now. There are some fans who haven’t liked anything except TOS but still watch and complain about everything else for literally decades now. It’s very weird and I certainly can’t explain it either but there it is.
Star Wars fans are in jubilation right now hearing the news Kathleen Kennedy is finally leaving and my guess is most will still be complaining about the new shows and films whoever takes her place since many were complaining since Lucas put out the prequels.
This movie has only been out just a month and people still want to vent. But yes, many will still be just as angry about it ten years from now if history is any indicator lol.
My father is still complaining about the $7 he paid to see Beverly Hills Cop 3 back in 1994. Eddie Murphy was dead to him after that debacle. Dead.
This is how human nature works. They are going to be complaining about this film for the next 20 years minimum.
i still can’t bring myself to watch this. with an 18 month old i don’t have time to waste 2 hours on a bad movie. but looks like the buzz of this being awful has peaked people’s interest, hence it showing up on the top 10. but i’m sure Kurtzman and Co. will see this as a ringing endorsement that this is what the people want. just give the franchise to terry matalas or ronald d moore.
I haven’t watched it either – and probably never will. It’s not my cup of earl gray. Also – those numbers are terrible!
Yeah, right. Check the numbers for the same week in 2024. Way higher.
Awesome I’m glad it made it into the chart. I hope it does well enough that they will make more TV movies.
Seconded…!
As bad as it was from my perspective, I don’t want it to bring an end to future streaming one-offs for Star Trek. I wish your hopes become reality.
This is a crap result result. 170m minutes is less than 2 million viewers across a 90min movie.
That’s only the views from P+. I’m sure the amount of people watching it via the high seas was higher, but untrackable.
It doesn’t matter if everyone in the world watches something. If a view can’t be monetised then it is wortless.
I wanted to like it. I was excited. This film is a betrayal of Star Trek’s core values… and just a garbage effort. Savaged by critics, hated by fans, it is a blight on the franchise and deserves the scorn it received. Violent, pointless, poorly acted (yes, that includes Yeoh as well), and just cringe-worthy across the board. The kind of thing you’d want off your CV.
Can’t disagree at all.
I got 20 minutes in and had to switch it off. It was dire beyond belief. Not as a Star Trek film; not as a sci-fi film; but as a piece of storytelling and movie making of any type! Horrible acting, directing and design choices. And that was with a bottle of good wine to hand!
I tried to join in again a couple of days later. Got two minutes in and had to give up.
I should have pirated this “movie”…
And it probably ranks last on that list when it comes to critical reviews. God what an embarrassment this movie is.
If only ratings equated to quality.
Hey overall that’s great but the viewing numbers still seem on the soft side to me; for a new release anyway.
But I don’t pretend to understand what’s considered good or bad streaming numbers and to still be in the top 10 with a lot of competition so it’s definitely a positive.
But in reality I don’t see it havingbmuch legs after the hardcore fans watch it. It’s already fell out of the top 10 on Paramount plus after 2 weeks but it will probably bounce back and forth on that list from time to time.
I just think the bad reviews have created zero hype for it. And Paramount seems to know that. There was all this speculation it was going to have a big footprint in Asia due to Yeoh or maybe even be put it in theaters a short time where Paramount+ is non existent which is basically 70% of the world outside the America’s and parts of Europe and none of that happened. It was basically what most of us thought and just more content for the service itself. I would be curious to see how many signed up just to watch the movie as opposed to watching it because you were already subscribed but I know we will never get information like that.
End of the day it’s a barebones TV movie which most fans have already stopped talking about after one month. I didn’t expect it to get the attention or draw of a Kelvin movie obviously but with the lack of more Trek around at the moment and this thing being in development for years I thought it would would be in the conversation a bit longer.
But hopefully it will do big enough numbers for future streaming movies, NOT staring a genocidal dictator and something that actually feels like StarTrek again. Fingers crossed I guess.
Less than 2m viewers, how on Earth can spin this as a success?
Wow only around million?? Yikes
Shouldn’t be too surprised given everything.
Yep, 170m minutes is less than 2 million viewers across a 90min movie. So an average of 1.889m viewers.
Yeah. You can roughly estimate how many watched it by dividing the minutes by the runtime. That’s across 3 days as well. So it didn’t bring in many viewers and those that did watch felt it was from mediocre to absolutely awful.
Is it really less than 2 million viewers? Yeah Paramount+ is a joke of a service but that sounds like a complete disaster to me.
Luckily it looks like it only cost them $2 million to make when you subtract Yeoh’s salary.
I wonder if this will open doors for future streaming Star Trek TV movies.
These numbers are a bit soft. Future movies are possible but they have given no indication that they intend to do more.
They would LOVE to do more, but honestly anything right now is up in the air.
There was a lot I interest in the movie. That says a lot. It did not play like anything Star Trek, which upset die hards. However, it did play like a campy 80s Sci Fi flick that have its own fan base. I rewatched the movie and it has its moments. It’s actually a fun watch if you let go of pre-conceived Star Trek expectations. I hope it stays in the top 10 and gets a sequel.
Cannon Films presents Star Trek
Sorry can’t agree, it was just bad IMO. If it didn’t have Star Trek in the title, I doubt I would’ve ever watched it. I was bored halfway through it. But glad you liked it.
Honestly the film reminded me of those direct to video Roger Corman, Band, PM and Albert Pyun films from the 80s and 90s. While I do enjoy those, I think Star Trek needs to be above that. But then again we live in a world where Amazon is gonna produce gazillion Bond properties in the near future so nothing is sacred anymore or unique, when it comes to entertainment.
If that’s what you’re comparing it to, this movie is in bigger trouble than I thought. Anyone watching campy 80s flicks in 2025 is what you watch at 1 a.m. trying to get over a break up or if you’re drunk or more realistically both.
Hopefully, these numbers convince the powers that be to movie forward with the Jerri Ryan spinoff.
And most, if not all of the viewers said it’s 1hour and 30 mins they will never get back.
Really TrekMovie let it go.
What are they supposed to “let go” of? They’re just reporting the news. That’s not going to be limited to just the well-reviewed stuff.
They are just reporting the figures. It’s still considered a Star Trek movie and remember the name of this site.
Of course it made the list. People were curious, it is Star Trek after all. But the point is people hated it. It has a 19% critics score and 16% viewer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Who cares if it’s on a top 10 list.
Just curious I remember reading that you haven’t watched it yet. Have you tried watching it since?
No I haven’t, and this is why I’m not commenting on it that much, but when I see articles like this that are trying to present it in a positive light, I have to say something. I don’t tolerate BS easily… but Tiger what do you think, should I watch? Everywhere I see it’s like throwing 90 minutes of your life away.
In all honesty, no. I don’t say that lightly, normally I would always tell another fan to watch something and judge it for themselves. But you already know the entire story at this point and still not intrigued enough to watch it. And one of the biggest problems with the movie is that it just doesn’t have any real elements or connection to Star Trek itself. They went out of their way to minimize the universe we are invested in so much that you feel almost no stakes to any of it unless you care about MU Georgiou herself and I personally don’t. What’s crazy about this movie is it made me hate her even more lol.
That’s why it’s so easy not to bother, nothing in the movie ties into anything canon wise. You obviously know Rachel Garret will survive-and she’s literally the only connection to anything most people care about. That’s why it feels pretty disposable IMO.
Again if the movie itself was GOOD, then that would be enough on its own. But it isn’t in most people’s opinions including mines, so yeah.
Thanks. If one of the most positive posters on Trekmovie tells me it’s not worth my time, then that’s the last nail in the coffin. I haven’t even watched the last episode of Discovery S5.
I’ve had enough of the entire look and feel of New Trek, except maybe SNW but even this disappoints a little… They’re more interested in trying to be original than giving us good though provoking stories. Still can’t get the dancing K-Pop Klingons out of my head…
It just feels like a cheap and generic TV movie with absolutely nothing to say about anything starring mostly one note characters, bad dialogue and a plot we seen a hundred times already. I still for the life of me can’t understand how it even got made?
An interview I saw with Rob Kazinsky said after he got the role and read the script he knew right away people were going to hate it. He’s a big Star Trek fan and it took him no time to register how bad it was before they shot anything. But this is something they developed for years! This was basically the direction the show would’ve gone in.
If an actor who just watches the show knew how bad it was, it’s crazy the people whose job it is to produce the shows and films and had YEARS to come up with something better either were this tone deaf to the inferior product they were putting out or knew it but didn’t care and just took a gamble people would watch it anyway.
Take your pick, either one is bad
Legacy said in another article she didn’t watch it either. And looking at the soft viewing numbers for it, a lot of people made the same decision as you both did. Can’t blame anybody for skipping it.
Yeah bro, stay away, STAY FAR AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I actually liked the last episode of Discovery. And after watching this dumpster fire, even more so.
SEE WHAT YOU MADE ME DID SECTION 31?? YOU’RE SO BAD, YOU ACTUALLY MADE ME APPRECIATE DISCOVERY FOR ONCE!!!
Herm… that’s roughly 47 minutes of viewing for every person on the planet. Does that mean nearly 4 billion people watched the whole movie? 😜
It was 170 million minutes, which is less than 2 million viewers! Super poor result.
This is the opposite of franchise fatigue. No matter how bad the show is, there is a large audience for it. It goes to show Star Trek still have a long future ahead with its new productions. Let’s hope the next telemovie (I’d do a Shatner-Kirk one) is better.
More Section 31 please. It’s my new favorite Trek until Starfleet Academy comes out.
I can’t wait for the next movie.
You’re gonna wait a long, long, long time.
I hope they make more movies but after this disaster, who knows?
I would love a Lower Decks or Legacy movie. You know, stuff people actually want to see. But let’s get an Adolf movie instead that hardly no one wanted or was asking for. And we see the results.
Before I look forward to a new movie, streaming or theatrical, the ones responsible for what we’ve been getting for the last 15 years (excluding Lower Decks, Prodigy, maybe SNW and so-so Picard S3) need to be gone.
I just want to say that I did watch this movie (in disbelief). I’ll never forget the last line in this movie. Yo mamma IV. Yes, yo mamma IV. That’s how a Star Trek movie ended. Imagine The Wrath of Khan ending with ‘yo mamma IV’.
Awful numbers, weak competition.
If you go to the Nielsen site and filter by “Overall”, it’s not even on the list!
This is actually bad news. All It means is that allot of ⁹people saw how bad of a production it was. I think often eyeballs on a tv show or movie is based on curiousty and a bump from something that came before. For example Into Darkness I think was a major reason why Beyond didn’t do well even though it was considered a better movie by many. The bad taste Into Darkness gave some movie goers caused many to skip checking out Beyond.
Remember many TV shows from the 80s and 90s often had strong pilot ratings before the numbers plummeted for following episodes (once it fails to keep viewers interested) ….. before getting canceled altogether.
Not an accurate barometer. Especially for a single one time streaming movie.
Section 31 had allot of bad rumblings and vibes heading in. I think many wanted to see how bad it was. Like witnessing a car crash.
yeah, but what are the numbers now?
Considering that many of the films around it during that time are a decade + old….
How many subscribers did it add or play a role in maintaing? What percentage of viewers were on ad-tiers? How does that weigh against the budget and compare to goals and expectations? Streamers will never share these metrics but they’re what really matters.
I’m totally happy for the cast at this news. Also, with this relative ratings success, hopefully it means further streaming movies will get green lit. Also, the critical panning, will also mean they course correct (not sure it’ll happen though)
I don’t think you understood the article. There is no good news here for the cast or the possibility of any followup to this disaster. And it would take a 180 degree change of heading, not a correction. But if you liked the movie, I’m happy for you. To each his own.
I don’t think you understood my post. It would have been hard for the cast to endure the excoriating reviews. I wasn’t expecting it to break into the Nielsen charts, but it did. At least that is a positive for the cast to reflect back on.
Also, the movie was horrendous in my opinion, but the cast did what they could with a garbage script. I personally want one off streaming movies to continue showing off different aspects of the Trek universe.
Also, don’t be so naive to assume Alex won’t give a follow up to this movie. They keep coming up with projects not many people want.
Back In Action wasn’t a great flick either. IMHO of course. So hey, no accounting for taste.
Yeah I got through maybe 40 minutes of that before I turned it off.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
It should also fall into the top 10 of the worst crappiest things ever made.
Yeah, exactly.