La La Land will be Damien Chazelle‘s follow-up to his Academy Award winning drumming drama Whiplash. But rather than be just another film about the gritty and sometimes demoralizing behind-the-scenes look at competitive jazz band, Chazelle’s upcoming film might have a lighter fare, as it will be a musical set in modern-day Los Angeles. It will star Crazy Stupid Love duo Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. The two have quite the on screen chemistry, having also appeared together in the crime drama Gangster Squad.

The film marks the third time that they’re paired together in a film. And now we are getting our first look at the two dancing against an L.A. backdrop as the sun sets. Check out the first image below.

Aside from the fact that we know that the musical is set during modern-day Los Angeles, we are also learning a little bit about the characters involved. EW revealed that “a musician (Gosling) and a struggling actress (Stone) express their blossoming love for each other via a Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers-inspired dance.”

“There’s an incredible romanticism in L.A. that you don’t always see when you’re stuck in traffic on the 405,” said Chazelle. I can attest to not seeing any romance on the 405, or 5, or the 10, or the 101. I only see frustration, and maybe anger. But I digress. Going to places like Griffith Park or the LACMA are just a little bit of that romance that L.A. has, and I really hope that Chazelle can bring the romance out of the concrete jungle. It is refreshing to see that the filmmaker isn’t just doing the same thing over and over again by revisiting dark themes.

It should be interesting to see what Stone and Gosling can do in a musical. They have great chemistry together, and have proven themselves to be versatile actors. Based on the released photo it looks like they have having fun channeling their inner Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

J.K. Simmons, Rosemarie DeWitt, Finn Wittrock, and John Legend also star. La La Land dances its way into theaters on July 15.

The photo below was actually shot in Griffith Park back in September during a sunset.

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[Source: EW]