A Legally Blonde Prequel Series Is Coming To Prime Video & Introducing A Teenage Elle Woods

What, like it’s hard to make a prequel? On May 14, Prime Video and Reese Witherspoon announced a new Legally Blonde TV series is coming soon. However, the show won’t pick up where 2003’s Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde left off. The series, aptly titled Elle, will instead take viewers back in time to meet a teenage Elle Woods in the ‘90s.

The show is being produced by Witherspoon and her production company Hello Sunshine, so it seems Elle’s origin story is in good hands. Per the official press release, Vernon Sanders, head of television at Amazon MGM Studios, said, “One of the most quotable, iconic, and beloved characters that is ingrained in the fabric of Hollywood history has to be Elle Woods, and we are honored to bring her origin story to our global Prime Video customers. Reese and Hello Sunshine’s vision for this series, coupled with Laura Kittrell’s winning voice, made this show completely undeniable.”

It’s unclear what this means for the long-in-the-works Legally Blonde 3, but transporting Elle’s story to high school opens up the franchise to a whole new generation of viewers — and could give you and your teen a new series to bond over.

Read on for everything we know about Prime Video’s Legally Blonde prequel series so far.

Is Reese Witherspoon in Elle?

It’s hard to imagine a Legally Blonde story without Witherspoon. No casting announcements have been made at this stage, so it’s unclear who will be playing teenage Elle or whether or not the Big Little Lies actor will appear in some capacity (perhaps providing a snappy voiceover?). One thing is certain: Witherspoon is involved in the production via Hello Sunshine.

“I truly couldn’t be more excited about this series!” Witherspoon said in the press release. “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’s the Legally Blonde prequel about?

Kittrell, who was behind Freevee’s criminally underrated teen series High School, is serving as showrunner, so viewers can expect Elle to have the perfect blend of comedy, pathos, and on-point ‘90s references. According to Amazon’s official description, the prequel “follows Elle Woods in high school as we 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.”

Is Legally Blonde 3 still happening?

As exciting as it is to see Legally Blonde continue in any form, fans have long been clamoring for a third movie. Way back in 2018, rumors swirled that a third film was in the works — at one point, Mindy Kaling was even attached to write the follow-up, which had a release date of May 2022. However, it’s been quite some time since any new updates have been released, and 2022 came and went without Elle taking the box office by storm.

For now, it seems Legally Blonde 3 is still languishing in Hollywood’s development hell, but at least that hasn’t stopped Elle Woods from finding her way back to our screens anyway.