Ryan Gosling's La La Land to open Venice Film Festival

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's La La Land will open the Venice Film Festival in Italy later this year (16).

The film, directed by Whiplash filmmaker and writer Damien Chazelle, was due to be released in July (16), but the musical, in whish Ryan will play a jazz pianist who falls for an aspiring actress, will make its debut at the festival on 31 August (16).

"La La Land is a surprising tribute to the golden age of American musicals, from An American in Paris by Vincent Minnelli to New York, New York by Martin Scorsese," festival director Alberto Barbera says. "It is a film that does not merely reinvent the musical genre, it gives it a brand new start. If Whiplash was the revelation of a new filmmaker, La La Land is his definitive, albeit precocious, consecration among the great directors of Hollywood's new firmament."

La La Land is scheduled to hit theaters in time for awards season this year (16). It will be released in select cinemas on 2 December (16) before opening nationwide two weeks later (16Dec16).

Studio bosses often schedule the release of films they hope will earn major awards between September and December, to ensure they are still fresh in the mind of the voters who decide the nominees and winners in January and February.

La La Land is Damien's follow-up to the jazz drama Whiplash, which was an unexpected contender at 2015's Academy Awards ceremony earning five Oscar nominations and winning in three categories.

J.K. Simmons, who earned a Best Supporting Actor gong for his role in Whiplash, will also star in the new musical, while John Legend, another Oscar winner, is also among the cast.