Written by contributor Lisa D
Try to count the approximate amount of times one can watch and re-watch a romantic comedy. Once, twice, more than five? And now, count how many times have you seen or heard of a cute but fickle Barbie-like girl who enrols into one of the best law schools in the world just to win back her boyfriend, ends up winning complex cases, and sticking it to those who hardly believed her even getting through the first term because, surely, you have heard of Legally Blonde‘s Elle Woods with the amazing Reese Witherspoon in the lead role. She is indeed one of the most beloved rom-com characters in the world and now it is time for the fans to hold their breaths and cheer because Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) officially confirmed the release of the next Legally Blonde sequel!
One may say: “Ok, so what? That is no big news anymore. The studio have been making the same announcements since 2018.” Moreover, one would be completely right, introducing the issue. Various media reported multiple times over the past couple of years about the possibility of continuation of Legally Blonde film series. Also in 2018, Reese Witherspoon negotiated the option to produce the next film, starring in it as well. The offer was accepted, the work was carrying out and the studio already announced the film to be released in May 2020. Nevertheless, COVID-19 pandemic struck and the planned release was delayed for an indefinite period of time. However, the creators decided not to waste the extra time and rewrote the script, making up a totally new story. So, just recently, MGM proved Legally Blonde 3 coming out May 2022, this time for sure.
It should be noted that Legally Blonde is not only a film series, but a huge franchise that consists of comedy films including both theatrical and television releases, a Broadway musical, an MTV reality series and, of course, the novels by Amanda Brown, without which the world would never have found out about Miss Woods’ adventures in the first place.
It is also interesting that the new film of the franchise is called (currently) Legally Blonde 3, nonetheless there are already three films in the row that exist. The first one, and, probably, the most famous of all, released in 2001 and followed the initial story of Elle Woods and her chihuahua Bruiser getting into Harvard Law School. This film rightly regarded as iconic and a cult of early 2000s as well as the one shattering the “blonde = stupid” stereotype. Furthermore, in 2002, Witherspoon was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) and won MTV Movie + TV Awards for Best Comedic Performance, Best Line and even for being Best Dressed.
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde came out right afterwards, in 2003, presenting Miss Woods as a professional lawyer after recently graduating from an Ivy League university and now she is up hoping to preserve animal rights. On the contrary to the previous one, the second film did not gain equally huge popularity. It was nominated for The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards as the Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing More than $100 Million Using Hollywood Math and rated by IMDb 4.8/10.
Now, the third one does not actually belong to the list and is called Legally Blondes. It was created as a spin-off from the two above mentioned films and co-produced by Reese Witherspoon. Instead of telling another story about Elle Woods, this time the events are concentrated around her twin cousins, Izzy and Annie Woods, who similarly to Elle, are in love with everything pink. Therefore, the upcoming film, even though it’s the fourth one, is called Legally Blonde 3 as it goes on with original Elle Woods story.
What do we know about it so far?
Although the film is going to come up only in a year and a half, there are already some interesting bits known. Jamie Suk has been appointed as a director of the picture. According to IMDb, his only credit before Legally Blonde 3 was a short drama called The Good Girl (2017), of which he was also a writer.
There is also not so much known about the cast. Naturally, we will see Reese Witherspoon starring as Elle Woods once again. However, multiple sources like Elle, Variety, and Entertainment Tonight confirm viewers will find many other familiar faces on screen. As well, Witherspoon herself pointed out she will not be the only one from the original cast. Thus, it seems like we could be lucky to observe Jennifer Coolidge, Selma Blair, Jessica Cauffiel, Matthew Davis, and Luke Wilson as Paulette Bonafonté, Vivian Kensington, Margot, Warner Huntington III, and Emmett Richmond respectively again.
Likewise, the original producer remains unchanged. Marc Platt produced all three previous films, including Legally Blondes. This time, he is joined by Adam Siegel, known for producing Charlie St. Cloud, 2 Guns, Jesus Christ Superstar: Live in Concert, and Reese Witherspoon with her own production company Hello Sunshine.
Things look noteworthy in the field of scriptwriting. As was already mentioned, the script was fully rewritten during the lockdown. So, the shift of scriptwriters took place. Initially, Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith were chosen to write the screenplay of Legally Blonde 3 as they are also the authors of the original 2001 script and the first who brought the eponymous novel to the screen. Nevertheless, after some additional arrangements, it was announced Mindy Kaling (The Office, Never Have I Ever) and Dan Goor (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) collaborating to create a new script for the following Legally Blonde story.
Though only a little information is known now and the story is held in strictest secret, millions of fans around the world are thrilled about the mere fact that one of the cult characters of the 2000s will come up with her life story on screens once more. The sequel definitely promises to be full of events and surprises!
