"FIGHT CLUB" DIRECTOR David Fincher has picked his next project - a coming-of-age tale about 70s skateboarders.

It's something of a departure for the helmer of thrillers such as "Se7en", and "Panic Room", but should at least give him a chance to show off some more flashy camerawork.

"Lords of Dogtown" - which was originally slated to be the directorial debut of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst - will focus on a group of surfers who birthed the skateboarding movement in the States. Roger Avary is currently reworking an original script by Stacy Peralta, writer-director of acclaimed skating documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys". Production will start late this year.

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IN MORE FINCHER related news, British model-cum-actress Kelly Brook has definitely been cast as Tom Cruise's love interest in the director's 2004 project, "Mission: Impossible III". Blimey.

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JIMI MISTRY has been hitting the promo circuit in the US, drumming up business for cross-cultural comedy "The Guru".

A British co-production, it's getting a small release across the pond, but Mistry hopes it'll go wider and provide a breakthrough for Indian culture and actors.

"I've done a lot of interviews with journalists and the actual reaction has been, in my opinion, better than it has been anywhere else," he told BBCi Films. "I think this might be something really fresh for America and I think it might be a breakthrough for a film with anything resembling Indian ethnicity, culture, actors or whatever."

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POOR OLD MICHAEL CAINE. Not only has the veteran acting great no chance of winning an Oscar for "The Quiet American" (despite his excellent performance), but he's playing an American in his next movie.

Yep, scream now, for "Secondhand Lions" sees Sir Mike as a Texan. He's one of Haley Joel Osment's eccentric uncles (the other is Robert Duvall) in the comedy, and he admits ditching his cockney accent "was a swine".

Given how the UK press reacted to his Yank-flavoured voice in "The Cider House Rules", expect the reviews to be pigswill, too.

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"GOSFORD PARK" STAR Kristen Scott Thomas has signed to World War II drama "Resistantes". The French production, about female resistance fighters, will start shooting in April, with Scott joined by "8 Women" star Virginie Ledoyen. Hey, what can we tell you? It's a slow day for news.