The project was unveiled during Prime Video's Upfront presentation last week, where the network also announced another television series based on an MGM property, Tomb Raider.
Created by Laura Kittrell (photo inset), who will serve as showrunner, the new series 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 movie.
The series takes place years before the events of the first film, which began when Elle Woods (Witherspoon) graduated from college and attended Harvard Law to pursue a legal career.
As reported last month, Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine has two Legally Blonde series in the works at Amazon MGM Studios. The other is a spin-off written and produced by Gossip Girl duo Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage.
“I truly couldn’t be more excited about this series! 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,” Witherspoon said. “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!”
Kittrell produces alongside Hello Sunshine's Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter and Lauren Kisilevsky and Legally Blonde film producer Marc Platt. Elle is produced by Hello Sunshine and Amazon MGM Studios.
“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,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios. “Reese and Hello Sunshine’s vision for this series, coupled with Laura Kittrell’s winning voice, made this show completely undeniable.”
As reported a year ago, Legally Blonde was one of dozens of titles from MGM's library initially identified for film and/or television development following Amazon's acquisition of the Hollywood studio. Partnering with Witherspoon to exploit the IP made sense given her close relationship with the franchise.
The first Legally Blonde film, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith based on Amanda Brown's book, was released in 2001.
It became a pop culture phenomenon and propelled Witherspoon to super stardom. Sequel Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde followed in 2003, as did the 2009 direct-to-video spin-off Legally Blondes, which was originally intended as a pilot for a potential series. Legally Blonde 3, co-written by Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor, has been in the works for several years.
At Amazon MGM Studios, Hello Sunshine previously produced the critically acclaimed Prime Video limited series Daisy Jones & The Six.
