Quick Cuts

QUICKLY EVOLVING

Ivan Reitman has committed to direct a big-budget comedy in the tradition of his 1984 blockbuster, “Ghostbusters,” for DreamWorks. The film, titled “Evolution” and written by Don Jakoby (“Arachnophobia”) and the writing team of David Diamond and David Weissman, telescopes the Earth’s 5-billion-year history into a single month. No casting has been set yet. In other monkeys-and-man related news, 20th Century Fox’s long-awaited “Planet of the Apes” project seems to be moving forward. Mark Wahlberg, fresh off the big opening of “The Perfect Storm,” has agreed to tackle the lead role for director Tim Burton. The film is being billed as neither a sequel to nor a remake of the five previous “Apes” films based on the Pierre Boulle novel. “Evolution” and “Planet of the Apes” are scheduled for fall production starts.

SKID MARKS

A tap-dance “kid,” a “Soul Man” and an exotic dancer head up the supporting cast of writer-director Adam Rifkin’s latest, “Night at the Golden Eagle,” proving just how far back the reach of pop culture references can go. Fayard Nicholas, who began his career in vaudeville as half of the legendary dance duo the Nicholas Brothers, Sam Moore of the ‘60s singing group Sam & Dave, and Kitten Natividad, an exotic dancer who has worked with everyone from Russ Meyer to Art Linson in the contemporary drama. Currently shooting in downtown Los Angeles, the film centers on the denizens of a seedy skid row hotel and stars two unknowns, Donnie Montemarano and Vinny Argiro. Rifkin, who is financing the indie and producing with Steve Bing, previously wrote “Mousehunt” and “Small Soldiers,” and directed “The Dark Backward,” “The Chase” and “Detroit Rock City.”

BROTHER FROM ANOTHER CONTINENT

Jiang Wu, who has some scene-stealing moments as Er Ming in the recently released Chinese film “Shower,” is the younger brother of actor-director Jiang Wen. Wen starred opposite Gong Li in Zhang Yimou’s 1988 “Red Sorghum,” and directed 1994’s “In the Heat of the Sun” and a new film, “Devils on the Doorstep.” Jiang Wu is a rising mainland star in his own right, having appeared in “To Live” and “A Beautiful New World,” as well as being a member of the Beijing Experimental Theater Troupe.