Prime Video announced on Tuesday that it has ordered 'Elle,' a prequel series from Witherspoon's production company.
Reese Witherspoon developing yet another Legally Blonde TV show? What, like it's hard?
Prime Video announced on Tuesday that it has ordered Elle, a prequel series from the actress and producer and her Hello Sunshine production company.
Insecure creator Laura Kittrell will serve as showrunner, on Elle, which will follow a younger version of Witherspoon's iconic Legally Blonde character, Elle Woods. The series will focus on her high school life, as viewers explore the people and moments who helped shape her into the woman who decides to follow an ex across the country to Harvard Law School.
Witherspoon celebrated the news by recreating the opening scene of the beloved 2001 comedy in a TikTok, with details down to the "top secret script," which was, of course, printed on pink paper and scented.
"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! 🩷💫🎀💅🏻🤩," she captioned the clip.
"I truly couldn't be more excited about this series!" Witherspoon added in a statement. "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!"
Elle isn't the only Legally Blonde project in the works. ET confirmed last month that Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine are also in development on a TV spinoff series. Deadline was first to report that Witherspoon, along with Gossip Girl executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, are looking to keep the franchise going on TV and/or streaming, though details of the project are being kept under wraps for now.
The original film, which became an enduring hit when it was released, has already spawned two follow-up movies -- 2003's Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, in which Witherspoon reprised her titular role as Elle Woods, and 2009's direct-to-DVD Legally Blondes -- as well as a popular Broadway show, in which Laura Bell Bundy originated the role of Elle.
A third film starring Witherspoon has long been in the works as well, with the latest iteration being developed by Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor -- however, Kaling said last fall that the project, like many others, had been delayed by the Writers Guild strike.
She also told ET in April 2022 that she and the Legally Blonde 3 creative team were taking their time writing, adamant about doing justice to the legacy of the beloved franchise.
"I love this project. I am so excited about it. We are working on it," Kaling said at the time. "It is going, you know, a little more slowly than we like but [it's] just because we really want it to be good. I think of it as like, Reese's Avengers. Elle Woods is like her Captain America, so you don't want to be the person that messes up that story. So for me, we are just taking our time because we want it to be really good."
Witherspoon has previously teased that her next version of Legally Blonde will be heavily focused on Elle's relationship with Jennifer Coolidge's iconic manicurist, Paulette Bonafonté.
"I'm beyond myself about Jennifer Coolidge," Witherspoon gushed. "She deserves every one of those flowers she is receiving right now. And she's just one of those people who is so naturally gifted and funny and that you can just tell people love her, 'cause she gets up there and everybody's like, 'I love her,' but she's just done a lot of good work in our business for so long, that it's really nice to see her getting this incredible moment."
"There is no Legally Blonde 3 without Jennifer Coolidge," Witherspoon maintained.
RELATED CONTENT:
