‘Legally Blonde’ prequel series to follow Elle Woods navigating high school in the ’90s
May 15, 2024, 8:48 PM | Updated: 8:50 pm
A new Amazon series will explore the past of Elle Woods, played in the 'Legally Blonde' movies by Reese Witherspoon (center), who is shown in a scene from the first film. (Everett Collection)
(Everett Collection)
(CNN) — A new Prime Video series is going to show us who Elle Woods was before she went to Harvard Law School (“What, like it’s hard?”) and became an accomplished, perpetually pink-clad lawyer.
Reese Witherspoon, who starred as Woods in the 2001 classic, was on hand for the announcement, which was made on stage at Prime Video’s upfront presentation on Tuesday. Witherspoon wore her character’s signature “Legally Blonde” hot pink skirt and suit jacket set while revealing that everyone’s favorite movie lawyer is coming to the small screen in a prequel series titled “Elle.”
“I had this crazy idea that the world might want to know the origin story of Elle Woods,” Witherspoon said, according video footage from the presentation. “So here I am to officially tell you the most amazing news ever, which is that we’re going back to high school with Elle.”
Before Woods was the “most famous Gemini vegetarian to graduate from Harvard Law School,” Witherspoon said, she was just a “regular ‘90s high school girl.”
According to an official synopsis, the series will follow a teenage Woods “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.”
“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,” Withersoon, who will serve as an executive producer on the series, said in a news release.
“Legally Blonde” premiered in 2001 and follows Woods, a spunky and stylish sorority queen who enrolls in Harvard Law to win back her college boyfriend Warner (Matthew Davis). Along the way, Woods proves her many critics wrong when she excels in her field and realizes her true value as a person.
Selma Blair, Luke Wilson, Jennifer Coolidge, Victor Garber, Ali Larter and Holland Taylor rounded out the all-star cast. A sequel was released in 2003 and a third installment is reportedly being co-written by Mindy Kaling.
Casting information and a release date for “Elle” have yet to be announced.
