Exclusive: LA LA LAND Film Producer Gives Update on Broadway Musical Adaptation

The stage musical adaptation of the 2016 musical film La La Land is still in the works. 

Jordan Horowitz, who was a producer on the film starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, exclusively tells BroadwayWorld, “It’s still happening, for sure.” 

Horowitz — who also served as a producer on the new Netflix film Don’t Say Good Luck (out Friday, August 14) — says that he’s “not super involved with” the upcoming La La Land adaptation but has seen “some readings” of the stage version. 

“I get updates now and then,” he adds. “But they have a great team in place. And a number of the people who worked on the movie, Mandy [Moore], who is the choreographer… [Composer] Justin [Hurwitz] is pretty involved, and [lyricists Benj] Pasek and [Justin] Paul are involved. And Marc Platt, who’s one of the producers on the movie, is much more front and center on it. … He’s very involved in it.” 

“It’s trudging along,” says Horowitz, noting that fans will first see the movie’s return to theaters beginning August 16 in celebration of its 10th anniversary. 

“Our 12-year-old son is the baby at the end that they have in the fantasy sequence,” his wife Julia Hart (who directs Don’t Say Good Luck) points out, referring to their son Arthur. 

Horowitz famously gave a shout-out to their child at the Oscars before revealing that Moonlight actually won Best Picture during the infamous onstage mix-up at the 89th Academy Awards. 

As for other updates in the La La Land universe, Horowitz points out, “They just released a new poster where they fixed Ryan’s hand.” Gosling previously opened up about how he regrets having a flat hand in the dance sequence with co-star Stone that was used for the official poster. 

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, Platt announced in 2023 that a stage adaptation directed by Bartlett Sher is in the works. 

It was reported at the time that the book will be written by Ayad Akhtar and Matthew Decker.  

La La Land, which tells the story of an aspiring actress who meets a struggling jazz musician, won Oscars for Best Director (Damien Chazelle), Best Actress (Stone), Best Cinematography (Linus Sandgren), Best Original Score (Hurwitz), Best Original Song (“City of Stars” by Hurwitz, Pasek and Paul) and Best Production Design (David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco).

Photo Credit: Lionsgate