Elle: The Legally Blonde Prequel Is Coming
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6 months ago
Reese Witherspoon strikes again
If there’s one thing Reese Witherspoon is adept at, it’s giving the fans what they want. Whether that’s adaptations of Where The Crawdads Sing, Big Little Lies and Daisy Jones & The Six, or engaging original series like The Morning Show on Apple TV, Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine, is behind some of the latest and greatest TV shows and films, all with women at the fore. But, while fans of Legally Blonde have been eagerly awaiting a third instalment to the movie franchise, Witherspoon has set her sights on something a little different: a TV series. Better still, this isn’t just a vaguely hinted at pipe dream: Amazon Prime Video has confirmed that the series, titled Elle, is in development. Here’s everything we know so far.
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The Legally Blonde TV Series: What Do We Know?
Undoubtedly Reese Witherspoon’s most iconic role, Legally Blonde is a cult classic, spawning witty catchphrases (‘bend and snap,’ ‘what, like it’s hard?’, and ‘I don’t need backups, I’m going to Harvard’, to name a few), a love of hot pink, and an international adoration of Jennifer Coolidge. A sequel, a Broadway musical and a spin-off film later, Legally Blonde is a bonafide franchise, and it’s going nowhere soon. A TV series is officially in the works – with Amazon MGM on board, meaning it’ll stream on Prime when it’s ready – and we’ve got all the details.
Witherspoon upped the excitement this week by sharing a video on Instagram, in which she brandishes a scented script ahead of a Prime Video presentation to advertisers, soundtracked by the song ‘Perfect Day’. She wrote: ‘Before she became the most famous Gemini vegetarian to graduate from Harvard Law, she was just a regular ’90s high school girl. And all of you are going to get to know her, next year on Prime Video. I’M SO EXCITED!’
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What Will Elle Be About?
This series is being written by two former Gossip Girl showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage under their Fake Empire production company, alongside Witherspoon under Hello Sunshine. It will take us back to a time pre-Harvard, following Elle through her high school days.
In a statement, Witherspoon said: ‘Fans will get to know how Elle Woods navigated her world as a teenager with her distinct personality and ingenuity, in ways that only our beloved Elle could do. What could be better than that? I’m extremely grateful to the incredible teams at Prime Video and Hello Sunshine – along with our amazing writer Laura Kittrell – for making this dream of mine come true. Legally Blonde is back!’
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Will Reese Witherspoon Star?
We don’t know whether Witherspoon will return as Elle Woods but, since she is on the production team, we’re hopeful she will make a cameo.
Will Jennifer Coolidge Star?
Hot off her iconic role in the first two seasons of The White Lotus, will Jennifer Coolidge return to play Paulette Bonafonté in the Legally Blonde TV series? Sadly no news on this front – but we’re very hopeful she will make an appearance.
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What’s Happening With Legally Blonde 3?
Legally Blonde 3 (a follow up to Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde) has been in the works since 2018 when it was officially announced – but progress has been slow. Karen McCullh Lutz and Kirsten Smith were originally hired to co-write the film, but in May 2020 – when the film was supposed to be landing in cinemas – it was announced that Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor would be co-writing an entirely new script.
Two years later, Kaling commented on the slow progress: ‘[It’s] going a little more slowly than we like. Just because we really want it to be good. I think of it like Reese’s Avengers. Elle Woods is like her Captain America, and so you don’t want to be the person that messes up that story.’
When Will Elle Be Released?
No news on a release date yet, but we’ll update this page when more information comes to light. As far as we know, filming has not started yet, so we don’t anticipate seeing Legally Blonde on the small screen until 2025 at the very earliest.
