The Best Early 2000s Sci-Fi Comedy You Forgot About Just Arrived on Paramount+

March 19, 2026, 5:30pm

Science fiction has always been a popular genre on the big screen, and the beginning of the new millennium in the 2000s brought a new golden era for the genre. Driven by major advancements in special effects and a widening range of themes, the decade delivered some of the most iconic and influential sci-fi movies ever, including titles like Avatar, Children of Men, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Other movies, unfortunately, went overlooked, including a largely forgotten early 2000s sci-fi comedy that is now streaming on Paramount+.

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That movie is Evolution, the 2001 sci-fi comedy marketed as a spiritual successor to Ghostbusters and designed to replicate the formula of “scientists battling supernatural/unnatural creatures.” Directed by Ivan Reitman, who also directed the original Ghostbusters, the movie centered around two college professors, a geologist, and a fireman who must try to stop a rapidly evolving alien organism that crash-landed in Arizona from taking over the world. Evolution started streaming on Paramount+ on March 1st and stars David Duchovny, Orlando Jones, Seann William Scott, Julianne Moore, and Ted Levine.

Evolution Is a Guilty Pleasure Sci-Fi Comedy That Still Holds Up

Evolution definitely didn’t hit the nail on the head when it comes to being a Ghostbusters predecessor, but it’s a pretty solid guilty pleasure, turn-your-brain-off sci-fi comedy gem that still holds up today. The movie is a lighthearted take on the alien invasion genre that shares a similar tone of charismatic underdogs fighting a strange, paranormal threat as Ghostbusters. It’s silly, fast-paced, and slightly irreverent, and the chemistry of the cast delivers genuine comedy and laugh-out-loud moments. Despite being over 20 years old, the CGI and creature designs are also surprisingly good.

Despite being a generally amusing, nostalgic 2000s romp, Evolution had a pretty poor reception upon its release. The movie flopped at the box office with a $98 million gross against a production budget of $80 million, and it holds rotten critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes of 44% and 48%. Evolution has thankfully risen to achieve something of an overlooked cult classic status in recent years, and it even enjoyed a bit of much-deserved success on streaming. When the film joined Paramount+, it hit the streaming charts. The movie climbed all the way to the No. 3 spot on Paramount+ in the U.S. within just days of its arrival, but it has since fallen out of the ranking.

What’s New on Paramount+?

Evolution is far from the only movie freshly streaming on Paramount+. The streamer kicked off March with a rush of new additions, including Jurassic Park wannabe Congo, most of the Friday the 13th movies, Good Will Hunting, the original Spy Kids trilogy, and White House Down. On the TV side of things, Paramount+ has debuted Tracker Season 3, The Loud House Season 8, and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s new show, The Madison.