With a kick and a heel turn, the Ryan Gosling-Emma Stone fronted musical La La Land has relocated from its original July release window to December.
Lionsgate announced the switcheroo only yesterday and, in doing so, shields Damien Chazelle’s feature film from opening against Sony and Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot. But with a limited release now penciled in for December 2 followed by theaters on December 16, it’s out of the frying pan and into the freezer for La La Land, which will now square off against both Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the Will Smith-fronted character drama, Collateral Beauty.
In tandem with today’s announcement, Lionsgate also notes that it plans to reteam with Black Label Media to finance Chazelle’s flick, following their partnership on Denis Villeneuve excellent thriller Sicario.
As for La La Land, this is Chazelle’s first creative venture since the director’s barnstorming success with Whiplash, and he’s ensured at least one core element remains the same by welcoming J.K. Simmons aboard. Rosemarie DeWitt and The Big Short star Finn Wittrock complete the preliminary lineup. Award-winning musician John Legend is attached to executive produce the drama while also having a small role and, finally, Marc Platt, Fred Berger, Gary Gilbert and Jordan Horowitz are on board to produce.
La La Land will dance into theaters in time for December 16. But can it compete with the heavyweights of Rogue One and Collateral Beauty? Time will tell.