Reese Witherspoon Spins Off Her Best Movie Into A Series
A television series based on the 2001 hit film Legally Blonde is currently in development at Amazon MGM Studios. Industry sources revealed recently that Reese Witherspoon, under the banner of her Hello Sunshine production company, is working with Gossip Girl developers Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz to help the film franchise make the leap to the small screen. The series looks to be a collaboration that will also bring Legally Blonde film producer Marc Platt to the table.
The premise of the Legally Blonde series has not been publicly discussed, and it seems as if producers want to keep most of the details to themselves for the time being. But with the team of talent that is behind it, the soon-to-be-produced series already has some promise.
Legally Blonde: The Series
Legally Blonde was based on the 2001 novel of the same name that former Harvard Law School student Amanda Brown penned. The film adaptation follows California sorority girl Elle Woods (played by Witherspoon) as she enrolls in the prestigious law program in order to chase down and rekindle a romance between her and her former college boyfriend.
Legally Blonde Was A Massive Culture-Defining Hit
The film was a box office success, raking in more than $141 million at the box office on an $18 million budget. Among critics, the reception was mixed, although it sits at an acceptable 71 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Legally Blonde also served to vault Reese Witherspoon to stardom and remains one of the films that the actress is most remembered for.
There Was Also A Sequel
Legally Blonde as a series is made possible in part by Amazon’s acquisition of MGM studios and their massive film and TV library. The film franchise was one of dozens that were immediately considered for a television series adaptation. Currently, there is no set date for either project completion or a streaming debut of the series.
After the first film was met with box office success in 2001, a sequel was released in 2003. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde didn’t have the commercial success of its predecessor, but it wasn’t the last attempt at the studio capitalizing on the popularity of the character Elle Woods.
Legally Blonde: The Musical
There have been a total of three Legally Blonde films released as made-for-TV movies, including Legally Blonde (2003), Legally Blonde: The Musical (2007), and Legally Blondes (2009). A TV reality series aired on MTV in 2008, based on the premise of the Broadway production of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Legally Blonde: The Musical-The Search for Elle Woods was a filmed search for a replacement for stage actress Laura Bell Bundy.
No Word On If Reese Will Be On-Screen, But We Can Hope
A third theatrical installment of the Legally Blonde film franchise has been considered since 2018 when Reese Witherspoon entered a deal with MGM Studios. The studio contracted with screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith for a script and was hopeful for a release date in the summer of 2020. MGM later scrapped that script and put Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor in charge of penning an entirely new screenplay.
It’s not known if Witherspoon will play a part in the new Legally Blonde television series.
