There are four simple words that are guaranteed to get me into a movie theater: "Ryan Gosling" and "Emma Stone." Put those two gorgeous and talented people in a film together and I'll be there opening night. Fortunately, someone has done just that: Four years after the pair first teamed up for the 2011 romantic comedy Crazy, Stupid, Love., they'll be starring opposite each other once again in the upcoming dramedy La La Land .
The movie tells the story of a jazz pianist named Sebastian who meets and (duh) falls in love with an aspiring actress named Mia while they're both living and working and dreaming in Los Angeles. "There’s an incredible romanticism in L.A. that you don’t always see when you’re stuck in traffic on the 405," director Damien Chazelle told Entertainment Weekly, while simultaneously unveiling the first official picture of Gosling and Stone in La La Land . "It’s a city that’s so filled with dreamers, most of whom won’t make it. I think there’s something poetic about that."
Just in case you need more persuading before grabbing your sleeping bag so you can camp out in line for tickets for the next seven months, here's everything you need to know about La La Land:
It Stars Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone
I know, I know, I already said that. But seriously, take a look at that picture of them being fly AF and tell me they don't look amazing together. This will be their third time starring opposite each other, including 2013's Gangster Squad... and you know what they say about the third time being the charm, right? Could this be the film that turns them into the next Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, the next Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant? You don't wanna miss seeing those sparks fly on the big screen.
(Originally, La La Land was supposed to star Miles Teller and Emma Watson as Sebastian and Mia which would've been OK I guess, but thank God fate intervened because just look at that picture, I mean really.)
It's A Musical Romance
The romance part is sort of obvious, but a musical? Like, an honest-to-god song-and-dance musical? That's right! Despite the fact that it takes place during the present day, the film will be rather "old-fashioned" in its sensibilities — Chazelle mentions "Isn't This A Lovely Day (To Be Caught In The Rain)" from the 1935 movie musical Top Hat as inspiration for the number featured in the above photograph. So get ready to hear the former Mousketeer and the Broadway actress flex their pipes in sure-to-be-swoon-worthy duets.
It's Got A Promising New Director
The 30-year-old Chazelle may not be a household name yet, but you're probably familiar with his work: His debut feature, Whiplash, was nominated for several Academy Awards last year, taking home trophies for Film Editing and for Supporting Actor J.K. Simmons as demonic jazz instructor Terence Fletcher. (Chazelle himself was nominated for writing the screenplay, although he lost to Graham Moore of The Imitation Game.)
According to the writer/director, that brutal drama and this musical romance have a surprising amount in common: "The two movies couldn’t be more tonally different, but they’re both about reconciling your dreams with the need to be human. La La Land is just much less angry about it."
It Features A Whiplash Reunion
Although Chazelle's Whiplash star Teller won't be starring in La La Land as originally announced — the actor claimed to Esquire that the director told him he was no longer "creatively right for the project" — the new film will still feature a Whiplash reunion: Simmons has signed on to play "Boss," who's ambiguously described as "someone in the life of Gosling’s character." (Whiplash's Oscar-winning editor Tom Cross is also back.) But Simmons' isn't the only exciting name in La La Land's supporting cast; other actors appearing in the film include Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story), Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married), and John Legend.
La La Land is slated to premiere this summer on July 15, 2016, at which point I will have died and gone to old-fashioned movie musical heaven.
Images: Giphy (3)
