Happy people don't just kill their husbands—but they do celebrate when there's news regarding Legally Blonde. The iconic 2001 comedy has been a staple feel-good movie and one of the best films from the 2000s for over two decades—inspiring millions of girls to approach their dreams with their full, authentic selves—and now it's officially making a comeback. After fans have been clamoring for a return of the film series for years, and with Legally Blonde 3 still in limbo, it's been confirmed that Elle Woods will get a television debut.
On May 14, Variety reported that a Legally Blonde prequel series is in the works at Amazon Prime Video, with Reese Witherspoon set to executive produce. Created by Insecure alum Laura Kittrell, the show, titled Elle, will depict the "origin story" of Elle Woods, during her high school years in the '90s. According to the official description, viewers can expect to "learn about the life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we came to know and love in the first Legally Blonde film."
"I truly couldn’t be more excited about this series!” Witherspoon said 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!"
So what do we know about the highly-anticipated series so far? Read on for everything we know so far about the Legally Blonde prequel.
When will the 'Legally Blonde' prequel series be released?
The Legally Blonde TV series is still in its very early days; though it officially has the greenlight, Amazon MGM Studios has yet to announce any other details. Any possible release date will depend on how long it takes to write the script and cast our new Elle Woods (a daunting task!), but odds are we'll at least see the series arrive on streaming by 2026.
Who has been cast in the 'Legally Blonde' prequel series?
With the series still in development, there has yet to be an announcement regarding who will play Elle Woods as a teenager growing up in Los Angeles' Bel Air neighborhood. Perhaps they'll tap a young unknown to play the SoCal fashion fiend, or they may cast someone with star power who's been having a major moment. (We're looking at you, Sabrina Carpenter!) When Witherspoon brought the character to life, she had already been a well-known teen star with roles in classic '90s movies like Cruel Intentions, Election, Fear, Pleasantville, and other films, but Legally Blonde catapulted her to even further success. Start your (blonde) dream casting now!
Is 'Legally Blonde 3' still happening?
A Hollywood production can take a while to go from rumor to reality, but the third Legally Blonde film's timeline has left fans scratching their heads. Most of the original film's cast have said they'd be down to return—from Witherspoon herself to Jennifer Coolidge to Luke Wilson. There's even an A-lister signed on to write the screenplay: Mindy Kaling signed on to write the script, alongside Dan Goor, back in 2020. However, there haven't been any updates on the highly-anticipated reboot for quite some time.
The most recent news came from Kaling, who addressed the Legally Blonde 3 delay during a podcast appearance in September 2023 when the writers' and actors' strikes were ongoing. “Obviously, now we sort of have pencils down because of the writers’ strike, but it’s had a couple of iterations over the past couple of years,” she said at the time, later adding that the project is progressing “a little more slowly than we like, but [it’s] just because we really want it to be good."
