For the tenth anniversary of La La Land, distributor Lionsgate has unveiled a new movie poster, correcting the hand position of Ryan Gosling (45) that the actor has been joking about for years. As The Hollywood Reporter reports, the correction coincides with the Oscar-winning film musical's return to U.S. theaters.
The 2016 original shows Gosling and Emma Stone (37) dancing against the nighttime Los Angeles skyline. Both raise one arm in the air. While Stone stretches her hand upward, Gosling held his flat at the time. It's precisely this gesture that the anniversary design now corrects.
The Star and His La La Hand
Gosling has never hidden the fact that the poster bothers him. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he admitted in 2024 that there's one moment that haunts him. While dancing with Stone, he had no idea it would become the movie poster. Both were actually supposed to raise their hands upward, but he held his flat because he thought it looked cooler.
Everyone advised him against it, the actor continued, but he was sure he had made the better choice. Today he sees it differently, especially since he constantly encounters the image. He even came up with a name for the failed pose: La La Hand. Just this past March, he picked up the joke again and posted a video during the promotion for Project Hail Mary in which he retroactively corrected his hand position.
Return to U.S. Theaters on August 16
The occasion for the new poster is the film's re-release in the United States, which according to industry publication Deadline begins on Sunday, August 16. La La Land will be shown in the Dolby Cinema of U.S. theater chain AMC. In parallel, a stage version is being developed: A musical adaptation for Broadway is in the works.
La La Land was directed by Damien Chazelle (41), who also wrote the screenplay. The focus is on aspiring actress Mia and jazz pianist Sebastian, who fall in love with each other in Los Angeles while pursuing their dreams. In addition to Gosling and Stone, the cast included John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, Finn Wittrock, and J. K. Simmons, among others.
Six Oscars and a Legendary Mistake
The film swept up six trophies at the 2017 Oscar ceremony, including those for Best Director and for Emma Stone as Best Actress. However, the 2017 ceremony is primarily remembered for an unforgettable blunder: Initially, La La Land was announced as Best Picture, before it turned out that the award actually went to Moonlight.
