Section 31 as a series was absolutely a bad idea, but that's not why it got made into a film instead

Star Trek made some big waves a few years back when they announced they'd be making a television show based on the highly controversial Trek concept, Section 31. Section 31 is the dark underbelly of The Federation, created in order to write stories about the Federation just being classic bad guys without there being layers or morally grey areas.

The entire sub-concept of the Federation was designed to just be evil. There's no redeeming arc for Section 31, they lie, torture, and murder for the sake of doing what's right in their eyes. A voidless, moralless, corrupted government body with no redeemable traits. They're the bad guys in every story told.

And someone in the brain trust thought a show about sociopaths in Star Trek would be riveting. The fan backlash was loud and persistent, as many people didn't want to see the worst part of the federation glorified for the sake of drama, and for a long time, it looked like those fans got their wish. With no news on the Section 31 front for years, it looked like a dead property, until it was announced that Michelle Yeoh had essentially willed the project back from the dead, with Section 31 being greenlit for Paramount+'s first made-for-television film.

Star Trek: Section 31 will be the streaming service's first made-to-order Star Trek film, but it wasn't the fan backlash that caused it, as some may have you believe.

If money wasn't tight, and Yeoh's star was as bright as it was when the series was announced, there'd be a show happening, leave no doubt. The lack of success the streaming service has encountered, plus Yeoh somewhat fading into the background in recent years, caused the project to be refocused from a series to a film.

It's still a problematic film, let's not get it twisted, very few people are excited to see the bad guys of Starfleet glorified, but that's not why things got changed up. Money. That's all there was to the decesion. Not enough money.