La La Land trailer: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling star in dazzling new clip

As La La Land prepares to sing and dance its way into the hearts of moviegoers, a dreamy new trailer for the musical-drama debuted Thursday morning, teasing the electric chemistry (and impeccable rhythmic skills) of stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.

The film follows Mia (Stone), an aspiring actress living in Los Angeles who falls for a struggling jazz musician, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) — both of whom find a romantic spark within each other as their respective careers take a downturn in a city known for both making stars and crushing dreams.

La La Land‘s new trailer offers an extended first look at Osacr-winner J.K. Simmons’ supporting performance as Sebastian’s curmudgeon boss, who fires the pianist on Christmas, as well as John Legend’s Keith, one of Sebastian’s musical acquaintances. Fresh scenes showing off a highway-centered dance routine and an unidentified man plunging into a pool from a rooftop also appear in the clip, which is set to an uptempo number from the film.

La La Lands heads into the fall movie season as a likely contender for Best Picture at the upcoming Academy Awards, having taken the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice Award in September, an honor previously awarded to an eventual Best Picture winner (or nominee) seven times in the last eight years. In addition to being nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2016 Venice Film Festival, Stone won the event’s annual Volpi Cup for Best Actress.

Writer-director Damien Chazelle, making his third turn as feature filmmaker on La La Land, previously found critical and awards season success with his 2014 drama Whiplash, which won three Oscars out of five total nominations at the 2015 Academy Awards ceremony.

Watch the new La La Land trailer above, and check out its new poster below. The film hits theaters Dec. 9 in limited release before expanding on Dec. 16.