HI,
It's a bug that occurs when a project consists only of photos. Many people have complained about it. The photos will stick on the first photo and not play in the preview window, although they will play when scrolling the timeline. Apple will need to address the problem. Meanwhile, the workaround is to insert a video clip anywhere in the timeline. That will unstick the preview play and allow editing. Delete the video when you are ready to export the project. The final product will play fine.
-- Rich