After Richard Ayoade‘s acclaimed directorial debut Submarine hit theaters last year, his sophomore follow-up, The Double — a loose-looking adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky‘s same-named novella — sees the director working in a completely different register. We first got wind of the project in August of last year, when the casting choice of Jesse Eisenberg as the project’s lead was revealed. A few months later, we learned that another young star, Mia Wasikowska, had also hopped aboard the film.
Today, Cinema Teaser has gifted us with the first two images for the film, both of which can be seen below in their full-sized entirety. Updated from the 19th-Century Russia of Dostoevsky‘s work to contemporary America, these first looks have an interesting, perhaps unexpected, gloom to them. The film has been described as a comedy — the presence of co-writer Avi Korine, Harmony‘s brother, may have something to do with that — but, at least on a visual level, there appears to be some playing with an atmosphere of dingy shadows and on-edge uncertainty (the latter quality being an Eisenberg trademark that could be toyed with in unique ways).
There’s no hint yet at a potential release date for The Double, but filming has been completed, making an appearance on 2013’s festival jaunt a distinct probability. In the meantime, you might want to humor yourselves by watching Michael Brandt‘s reportedly disastrous film of the same name. Or, if you haven’t yet seen Ayoade‘s Submarine, you could opt for the more sensible task of taking in that film, which is conveniently streaming on Netflix Instant.
Have you seen Submarine? Do you think The Double will be a complete departure for Ayoade?