Today marks exactly 25 years since Ivan Reitman’s Evolution opened in cinemas on June 8, 2001. What most audiences didn’t know then — and what makes the film genuinely fascinating — is that it nearly became something far darker: a horror thriller directed by John Carpenter. DreamWorks had other ideas, and the result was a Ghostbusters-style sci-fi comedy that flopped on release, built a cult following, and still deserves a proper reappraisal a quarter-century later.
The late Ivan Reitman was a directorial powerhouse in the ‘80s and ‘90s—notably his high-concept blockbuster comedies from Ghostbusters to Twins and Kindergarten Cop. Then, in 2001, he returned to his familiar comfort zone – a sci-fi comedy called Evolution that echoes the style and tone of his mega-successful Ghostbusters back in 1984.
But instead of the protagonists fighting ghosts, a ragtag team – two college science professors, Dr. Ira Kane (David Duchovny) and Professor Harry Phineas Block (Orlando Jones), along with firefighter wannabe Wayne Grey (Seann William Scott) and CDC researcher Dr. Allison Reed (Julianne Moore) – end up working together to battle evolving alien organisms stemming from a meteor crash.
Sounds like a whole lot of fun for a summer movie that DreamWorks and Reitman were confident about Evolution, to the point they made a 26-episode animated series titled Alienators: Evolution Continues, a.k.a. Evolution: The Animated Series, in January 2001, five months before the live-action film hit theaters. There was even a Game Boy Advance video game that served as a tie-in to the animated series of the same name, which debuted in November that same year.
Despite the Title, the Box Office Failed to Evolve
As for Evolution itself, Reitman left the door open for a potential sequel by the end of the movie. Unfortunately, reality hits hard for what could have been a franchise starter, especially after it could only muster a less-than-convincing $13.4 million in the U.S. opening weekend at No. 4, while the John Travolta and Hugh Jackman-starred action thriller Swordfish secured the No. 1 spot instead. For a movie that cost $80 million to make, it didn’t look positive while word-of-mouth was largely mixed, and by the time Evolution ended its worldwide theatrical run, it tanked with just $98.4 million – a far cry from Reitman’s Ghostbusters duology back in the ‘80s (yes, even the much-maligned Ghostbusters II still scored a box-office success).
Evolution Was Originally a Serious Horror/Sci-Fi Thriller
Believe it or not, the initial plan for Evolution wasn’t meant to be the type of sci-fi comedy that we saw in cinemas. Instead, Don Jakoby, who wrote genre movies like Lifeforce and Arachnophobia, originally envisioned his screenplay to be significantly darker in tone and style. Although the core premise retained the same meteor crash-landed in the Arizona desert plot, the evolution of the extraterrestrial organisms was multiplying at an alarming rate, leaning more on the claustrophobic terror and dread.
He deliberately wrote it with John Carpenter in mind, and given the evolving and parasitic nature of these aliens in the script, he came across as the right candidate for the job. Besides, Jakoby previously worked with the veteran director in Vampires in the late ‘90s, and despite mixed critical responses, that didn’t stop him from continuing their creative partnership. He reportedly spent months researching theories about evolution and panspermia, but what could have been an intriguing what-if scenario if Carpenter actually got the green light to work on Evolution.
Unfortunately, the studio executives from DreamWorks changed their minds, realizing that a lighter approach to the otherwise bleak subject matter would bring in a better crowd for an $80 million blockbuster positioned as one of the summer movie tentpoles.
How Ivan Reitman Turned a Dark Sci-Fi Script Into a Ghostbusters Spiritual Sequel
When Ivan Reitman came on board to direct Evolution, he saw Don Jakoby’s script differently, deviating from the latter’s grim vision into something more commercially friendly. He wanted to turn it into a comedy, even bringing in David Diamond and David Weissman (2000’s The Family Man) to retool Jakoby’s original script into a Ghostbusters-style sci-fi comedy. Jakoby didn’t feel comfortable at first with such a drastic change of tone, but the rewriting process still preserved the science surrounding the alien’s rapid mutation and biology, where the newly appointed screenwriting duo were working closely with him.
He ultimately liked the changes, despite the tonal shift featuring David Duchovny and Orlando Jones’ scientist roles cracking jokes. Now, this is one of the rare cases in which a director didn’t bastardize an original script but rather restructured it well enough to fit the director’s creative strengths. It’s a pity that Evolution didn’t do well during its theatrical run, even though it has subsequently developed a cult following.
Evolution’s Cult Following Proves the Film Deserved Better
In the years since its disappointing theatrical run, Evolution has quietly built a loyal audience through cable reruns and streaming rotation. Reddit’s nostalgia-driven communities regularly resurface the film as an underrated gem of early-2000s comedy, and its reputation has only grown warmer in the wake of Reitman’s passing in 2022. The “shampoo the aliens” climax has taken on a meme-ready second life online, introducing the film to audiences who weren’t born when it first released.
Why Evolution Is a True Ghostbusters Companion Piece
Twenty-five years after Evolution unfairly came and went with a box-office failure, Reitman’s 2001 sci-fi comedy still has rewatchability value even today. The idea of an unlikely team-up of quirky scientists (Duchovny and Jones), an aspiring loser archetype (Seann William Scott), and an uptight researcher (Julianne Moore) battling an extraterrestrial threat works well, thanks to the game performances all around.
The actors have a field day playing their respective roles, beginning with Duchovny successfully subverting the seriously deadpan persona that he’s perfected in The X-Files series in favor of a wry character for a change. His character contrasts well with Jones’s manic yet nervy comedic energy, reminding me of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd-like on-screen dynamic in Ghostbusters. Seann William Scott, fresh off his iconic Stifler role in American Pie, adds another contrast with his typically chaotic mode, while the inspired casting of Julianne Moore proves she can handle a comedy role with relative ease.
Interestingly, despite the Ghostbusters-like approach, Reitman isn’t interested in replicating the formula down to the tee. These accidental heroes are not equipped like Peter Venkman and co. with proton packs and a ghost trap, relying instead on their improvisational skills to overcome the ordeal. For instance, there’s a major set-piece where a pterodactyl-like alien invades the shopping mall, forcing the trio – Ira, Harry and Wayne – to grab a shotgun to take down the flying creature. But who could have thought the ultimate weapon to defeat the mutating alien organisms would be… Head & Shoulders shampoo. 500 gallons of them, to be exact, since the shampoo contains the all-important active ingredient of selenium sulfide that allows them, as quoted by Ira, “Let’s shampoo us some aliens!”
Twenty-five years on, Evolution stands as a clear-eyed argument for what Reitman did best: take an unlikely premise, cast it perfectly, and trust the comedy. With Ghostbusters: Afterlife reintroducing Reitman’s legacy to a new generation, now is the right moment to revisit the film he made in between — the one that got away.
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