Coming off his excellent but underseen Gone Baby Gone and the engaging but slightly overpraised The Town, Ben Affleck is getting ready to release his third film next fall. Argo, based on a real-life Iran hostage event, sees Affleck assembling a fantastic cast that includes himself, Alan Arkin, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Zeljko Ivanek, Richard Kind, Scoot McNairy, Chris Messina, Michael Parks, Kerry Bishe and Kyle Chandler.

Warner Bros. has provided the first official image from the film today, which features a very 70s-looking Affleck dissecting some government documents, likely before he goes on the mission. The Town‘s heist scenes were the most thrilling of that film, so I’m intrigued to see if Affleck can provide the same tension here. Also starring Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Victor Garber and Taylor Schilling, one can click the image below for higher resolution.

Synopsis:

Based on true events, “Argo” chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis–the truth of which was unknown by the public for decades. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist named Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.

Argo hits theaters September 14th, 2012.