J.K. Simmons Reunites with WHIPLASH Director For LA LA LAND

Whiplash was my favorite film of 2014, so I'm very excited about writer/director Damien Chazelle's follow-up movie, a Los Angeles-set musical called La La Land. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are playing the leads, and now THR reports that J.K. Simmons, who won an Oscar for his excellent performance in Whiplash, is reuniting with Chazelle for the new movie.

The movie is “an old fashioned musical set in contemporary Los Angeles and centers on a love story between a jazz pianist and an aspiring actress,” but when success comes, "they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fabric of their love affair." Simmons will play a character named "Boss," and I'm interested to see just how much of a musical this will be. Are we talking like a Les Mis-level of singing? Or like a West Side Story level? Does Simmons have his own big song to belt out, or will most of the singing be done by the leads? Either way, I'm jazzed (pun very much intended).