La La Land: Musical gets dreamy first trailer with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone

Damien Chazelle's follow-up to his 2014 sleeper hit Whiplash is the ultimate romantic ode to the musicals of Hollywood's Golden Age

Prepare to have your heart stolen; whisked away to lose itself within the dizzying lights of Tinseltown.

The first trailer for musical La La Land has dropped and, boy, is it a charmer. Soundtracked to the soft, crooning vocals of star Ryan Gosling performing an original song from the film, "City of Stars", the trailer promises a neon-soaked, dreamy take on the classic Golden Age musical, all big-hearted romance and wholesome glamour.

Quite a departure from director Damien Chazelle's previous work, 2014's sleeper hit Whiplash; which pitched student against teacher in an utterly gripping, sweat-dripped drama about the toils of jazz drumming (no, really).

Here Gosling stars alongside Emma Stone, as a couple of dreamers just trying to make it big in Hollywood; she, a lonely aspiring actress, and he, a cocky jazz pianist. This is the third time the pair have collaborated, with Gosling and Stone previously co-starring in Crazy Stupid Love and Gangster Squad; the former a strong display of their onscreen chemistry together.

“City of stars, are you shining just for me? City of stars, there’s so much I can’t see,” Gosling sings. “Is this the start of something wonderful and new – or one more dream that I cannot make true.” Rather melancholy lyrics, with the trailer's more sombre edit suggesting the final film won't be a straight toe-tapping romp, but will set out to explore some darker emotional territory.

The film is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in August, before hitting UK cinemas 13 January 2017.