Legally Blonde 3: All About the Next Installment of Elle Woods' Story

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Tracy Bennett/Mgm/Kobal/Shutterstock

Start practicing the bend and snap!Legally Blonde 3is officially in the works.

In June 2018,Reese Witherspoon, who played the iconic Elle Woods in the first twoLegally Blondefilms, confirmed that she’s reprising her role in a third installment of the beloved franchise.

Roughly a year later, Witherspoon toldEntertainment Tonightthat she’d seen a version of the script but had yet to shoot anything. “She’s a very beloved character,” she said. “You just want her to go on a hero’s journey like she does in the first movie, andI’m having a great time working on it.”

More recently, it seems that Witherspoon has turned her attention to an upcoming prequel series featuring a young Elle Woods. She later shared was inspired to tell high school Elle’s story after seeing teenage Wednesday Addams as the focus of Netflix’s hitWednesdayduring a January 2025 appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

In April 2024,Deadlinereported that theLegally Blondespinoff series was being produced with Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine, and Amazon MGM studios. The series, which is titledElle, is set to begin filming in March 2025.

In February of that year, Witherspoon revealed that actressLexi Minetree had been castas young Elle with a video onInstagramthat showed the moment she delivered the good news.

From the returning cast members to script teasers, here’s everything we know aboutLegally Blonde 3.

What isLegally Blonde 3about?

While the basic plot hasn’t been revealed yet,Mindy Kaling, whom Witherspoon tapped to writeLegally Blonde 3, toldAccessHollywoodin 2021 thatElle Woods is now 40 years old.

“How Elle is at 40 versus how she was at 21 has been really fun to imagine,” she said, adding that the “Bend and Snap” move will definitely make an appearance in the third film. “We have a lot of fan favorites from the original movie.”

In July 2022, Witherspoon toldUSA Todaythat she’s hopingLegally Blonde 3"is gonna come together in the right way." She compared the idea toTop Gun: Maverick— a sequel that premiered 36 years after the original movie.

“They waited a long time to make another version of that movie, and I loved the nostalgia piece they incorporated in it,” theSweet Home Alabamastar said. “That gave us a lot of inspiration about what we would want to do with Elle Woods and make sure that we had all those same touchstones that mattered to people [back] then.”

Witherspoon concluded: “I feel like these characters are my friends, so I safeguard them. I would never make the subpar, mediocre version of their story.”

How didLegally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blondeleave off?

Legally Blonde 2brought Elle Woods to Washington, D.C., where she successfully convinced lawmakers to pass a bill banning animal testing for cosmetic products.

She later marries her longtime beau Emmett Richmond. In the final scene, Emmett asks Elle where she wants to live.

“Oh, I think I know just the place,” she says while driving past the White House.

Who is in the cast?

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic ; Kevin Mazur/Getty

Witherspoon isn’t the onlyLegally Blondealum reprising their role.Jennifer Coolidge, who played Paulette Parcelle, may be back.

“There is noLegally Blonde 3without Jennifer Coolidge,” theBig Little Liesstar toldEntertainment Tonightin February 2023.

Coolidge later responded to Witherspoon’s comment in an interview withExtra. “Of course, I would be on board. I would love to do it,” she said.

As forSelma Blair, who played Elle’s foe turned friend in the first film, she’s hoping to “at least make a cameo” in the next installment.

“I’m hoping, hoping that that legacy can continue … because talk about the good things in life. That movie is one of the good things in life. It’s a highlight,” Blair said on theShut Up Evanpodcast.

In August 2022, while chatting withExtra, Kaling said she isn’t opposed towriting a part for Witherspoon’s daughter,Ava Phillippe.

“Listen, I think I can do anything, and if that’s something she wanted to do, what a joy to have her in that,” she shared.

When asked for an update onLegally Blonde 3in June 2024, Wilson said that he hadn’t “heard anything” yet.

“I talked to Reese a couple of years ago and some of the other cast members,” he said during an appearance on theTodayshow. “I think everybody would be up for doing it. But Reese is such a sharp person and I think she just wants to make sure that the script is really good, if it gets done.”

Who is writingLegally Blonde 3?

Jon Kopaloff/Getty ; Todd Williamson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank/Getty

Witherspoon recruited actress Mindy Kaling and Emmy-winning comedy writer Dan Goor toco-write the upcoming rom-com.

“Elle Woods is so iconic, proving you can be girly and smart at the same time. Bend and snap people!” Kaling wrote on Instagram following the announcement in May 2020.

When willLegally Blonde 3premiere?

MGMoriginally announced a release date of May 2022but that was delayed.Deadlinelater confirmed that the prequel series would start filming in March 2025.

Kaling addressed the film delay in an interview withTIMEin March 2022.

“We don’t want to be responsible for ruining what’s basically Reese’sAvengersfranchise,” she told the outlet, adding that she and Goor have a lot to consider when it comes to writing a new Elle Woods story. “What is Elle Woods like at 42? Does she end up becoming all the things she wanted? How does that personality manifest in a grown woman? Has she become more cynical? Her brightness and her cheerfulness really worked when she was 22, but how has life changed her perspective on things?”

source: people.com