Now that his directorial debut Submarine has had its moment in the spotlight, talented Brit, Richard Ayoade , is on to the next one (to quote Jay-Z).

First announced back in January, Ayoade’s next project will be an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky‘s novella The Double: ““A sort of doppelgänger tale, and funny, I think. Very funny. Dostoevsky never finished it to his satisfaction… So yes, we’re going to dust that off… We’ll do what Fyodor couldn’t,” he said 8 months ago.

The only Dostoevsky novel I’ve read is the voluminous Crime And Punishment; though many of his novels are hefty reads. So I’m not very familiar with The Double, other than what’s been written about it already; it’s also one of his slimmer volumes.

The novel is more of a psychological drama/thriller, depicting one man’s “schizophrenic break from reality,” as his mental state gradually deteriorates. But it sounds like Ayoade intends to put a comedic spin on it.

A minor official named Goliadkin becomes aware of a mysterious doppelganger, a man who has his name and his face and who gradually and relentlessly begins to displace him with his friends and colleagues.

This morning brings word that Ayoade has found his lead in The Social Network’s Jesse Eisenberg, which maybe further suggests that Ayoade will lean more towards the dark comedic than the psychological drama.

I actually have a copy of The Double in my to-read stash, so I’ll probably get to it before the film is in theaters, which likely won’t be until some time next year.

Ayoade is off to a brilliant start, and, in addition to The Double, also has another project in development, titled The Apostles Of Infinite Love – a 2008 Black list script, written by Victoria Strouse, with Ben Stiller acting as producer again (he also produced Submarine).

Stay tuned…