Evolution
April 2001

Premise: Helmed by Ivan Reitman, Evolution follows the chaos that ensues when a meteorite crash-lands into the Arizona desert and two local community college instructors (David Duchovny and the great Orlando Jones) are called out to the scene to investigate. After taking a sample from the crash site, the two determine that the interstellar rock carries within it single-celled alien life-forms. But hilarity ensues when the life-forms begin to rapidly evolve into increasingly complex plants and animals - some of which are deadly to our form of life. The only people standing between the aliens and world domination are two second-rate scientists, a rogue CDC doctor (Julianne Moore) and a fireman looking for adventure (Road Trip's Sean William Scott).

The Players: David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones, and Sean Williams Scott. Directed by Ivan Reitman; screenplay by Don Jakoby, David Diamond, and David Weissman. (Sandra note: that's a lot of Davids for one movie!)

Roots: Lovecraft's The Colour Out of Space and its offspring coupled with a healthy dose of Men in Black. And the three eyed smiley looks suspiciously like the comic book Transmetropolitan's patent icon.

Secret Weapons: Tippett Studios. "We don't only have a creature here. We have a whole ecosystem full of creatures," says director Reitman, "so there was an enormous amount of design work done. Phil Tippett, who is the effects supervisor on this, was extremely helpful. I think he's one of the best in the world at doing this kind of stuff - creating creatures that really feel lie they're there. They have weight, personality, and a texture that you can feel on the screen." Also, Julianne Moore has starred in two of the top three box-office openers of all time: The Lost World and Hannibal.

Good Vibes: Duchovny's penchant for comedy overdue for an appearance, but the subject matter kinda makes you think of those great "monster of the week" X-Files episodes. "The fact that there were aliens in it was kind of a drawback, but it's just a superficial coincidence," says the actor. "Comedy's challenging because there's really only one criteria and that's if people laugh or not. Drama- people like it a little or they like it a lot, but you don't have to cry to like it. In comedy, if people aren't laughing it's not successful, so you're really putting your ass on the line." Adding to its pedigree is director Ivan Reitman, director of Ghostbusters. "I have both the advantage and the burden of that comparison.," he muses. Los Angeles-based animation house DIC Entertainment also just announced it will be producing a half-hour weekly series based on the characters introduced in the live-action motion picture. It's Men in Black all over again!

Could be trouble: Mulder, come home.

Article courtesy of Sci-Fi Magazine transcribed by Jessica.