Production is underway on the international thriller The Two Faces of January.  The film marks the directorial debut of Drive and Snow White and the Huntsman screenwriter Hossein Amini and centers on an American con artist and his wife who strike up a relationship with a stranger in 1960s Athens.  Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst star as the couple, while Oscar Isaac is onboard as said stranger.  The first image and a full synopsis have been released, detailing a rather intriguing premise that’s a tad reminiscent of The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Hit the jump to check out the image and synopsis.  Filming on the StudioCanal production is taking place in Crete, Athens, Istanbul, and London.

Here are some recent casting additions at a glance:

• Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard) is in talks to star in the adaptation of Stephen King’s short story, The Ten O’Clock People.
• Dylan McDermott (American Horror Story) is the latest addition to the White House thriller Olympus Has Fallen, starring Aaron Eckhart and Gerard Butler.
• Oscar Isaac (Drive) is in negotiations to star opposite Viggo Mortensen in Hossein Amini’s The Two Faces of January.

Hit the jump for more on each picture.

Viggo Mortensen passed on Snow White and the Huntsman right around the time Hossein Amini entered negotiations to rewrite the script.  I suspect their paths crossed, as in the months since, Amini and Mortensen teamed to develop an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Two Faces of January.  The 1964 novel is a suspense thriller that centers on an American con artist, his wife, and a stranger in travelling in Athens.  A source tells 24 Frames Mortensen would assume one of the three starring roles, and this is intended to be the directorial debut of Amini.

Amini wields a powerful calling card right now with Drive — by all accounts from Cannes and LAFF, Drive is amazing.  We peons only have to wait three months for the September 16 theatrical release.  Cronenberg will next be seen playing Sigmund Freud in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, assuming it gets the late 2011 release we expect.  The first trailer, released yesterday, is wonderfully deranged.

Read the full synopsis for The Two Faces of January after the break.