Summary

• Legally Blonde 3, featuring Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, is highly anticipated and will pick up the franchise 20 years later.
• Elle Woods has become a feminist icon, breaking stereotypes about sorority girls and feminine women, and Legally Blonde 3 will explore her legacy in the 2020s.
• The release date for Legally Blonde 3 has not been announced, but it is dependent on Reese Witherspoon finding the right script and story for Elle's next chapter.

Legally Blonde 3 is on the way from MGM with Reece Witherspoon back once again as Elle Woods, and with a script penned by The Office alumni Mindy Kaling, the anticipation is high. The Legally Blonde movies focus on Elle Woods (Witherspoon), who enrolls in Harvard Law School to spite her condescending ex-boyfriend who thought her too unintelligent to pass the bar. Elle of course the last laugh, successfully arguing a court case, graduating from Harvard Law, and getting a new boyfriend in the process.

Many of Legally Blonde's scenes have become iconic, referenced by everything from shows, movies, and even music videos like pop star Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next". Elle Woods has become something of a feminist icon over the years. The ways she complicated stereotypes about sorority girls and highly feminine women and their career aspirations broke the mold in 2003, so Legally Blonde 3 arriving over two decades later will see how one of the (fictional) women who kickstarted the 'girlboss' era is faring in it.

Most Legally Blonde 3 News

Though updates have been scarce, the latest news regarding the long-awaited sequel is actually an optimistic update on Legally Blonde 3 in the wake of the Barbie movie's success. Legally Blonde star Luke Wilson has offered his two-cents on the previously announced sequel, and the actor believes the box office success of Greta Gerwig's Barbie could influence Legally Blonde 3. Wilson said "I would bet they do get affected by Barbie being such a zeitgeist movie...so hopefully in a good way that'll inspire them to get the best script that they can."

Luke Wilson starred as Emmett Richmond in Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2.

While this is an interesting development, it does suggest that the script is still in the primordial phase, and Elle's newest story hasn't been crafted yet. Not only was Barbie a box office juggernaut, but it did so with a clever script that was imbued with heady themes. This combination proves that audiences not only want a summer blockbuster, but they don't mind a movie making them think as well. That idea is reminiscent of the first Legally Blonde film, and logically could continue in the second sequel.

Legally Blonde 3 Is Confirmed

Legally Blonde 3 is confirmed, and the third movie in the Legally Blonde trilogy was announced in 2018 by Reese Witherspoon (via Twitter). Witherspoon’s production company, Hello Sunshine, is still producing the movie. Like most projects in the entertainment industry, 2020 forced some delays, as did the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The current creative team consisting of Mindy Kaling (The Office) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine creator Dan Goor was confirmed in May 2020, replacing original screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith (via Deadline).

Legally Blonde 3: Production Status

The new Legally Blonde movie was originally scheduled for a May 2020 premiere, though this has been continually delayed as various iterations of the potential sequels were pursued and subsequently scrapped. Recent updates suggest that the movie hasn't even gotten out of the screenwriting phase yet, which means there is no telling when the movie will go into production.

Legally Blonde 3: Cast

Reese Witherspoon is the only name officially confirmed to return for the Legally Blonde 3 cast, but Jennifer Coolidge (White Lotus, American Pie) has also expressed interest in reprising her role as Paulette Bonafonté. Additionally, original cast members Luke Wilson, Alanna Ubach, and Jessica Cauffiel all spoke about being willing to return for another installment of the movies. Cauffiel, who has retired from acting, announced on her Instagram that she would come out of retirement just to join the new Legally Blonde movie cast.

Legally Blonde 3: Story Details

Although details are scarce, the Legally Blonde 3 story will focus on Elle Woods roughly 20 years after the events of Legally Blonde and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde. The story will see the "bend and snap" lawyer now in her 40s. This leaves ample potential for stories: the ending of Legally Blonde 2 hinted that Elle is interested in pursuing a career in politics, while the setting sets up a perfect opportunity to introduce Emmett and Elle's son or daughter — the next generation of Legally Blonde.

The plot of Legally Blonde 3 is not yet known, but Witherspoon and Kaling have alluded to there being prevalent female empowerment themes in the new installment. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Witherspoon said Legally Blonde 3 will be “full of awesome feminist ideas.” As with any aspect of social discourse, feminist perspectives have certainly evolved since 2001. It will be entertaining to see how Kaling’s writing reflects today’s ideas of feminism. In a full-circle way, Legally Blonde 3 is an opportunity for both Reese Witherspoon and her beloved Elle Woods to show audiences how they’ve grown over the last two decades.

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  Legally Blonde 3

  Summary:

  Legally Blonde 3 is the third installment in the Legally Blonde franchise. Plot details are unknown at this time, but the film is scheduled to release in May 2022. Poster image is from the first film.

  Cast:

  Alanna Ubach, Jennifer Coolidge, Jessica Cauffiel, Reese Witherspoon

  Director:

  Jamie Suk

  Distributor :

  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

  Franchise:

  Legally Blonde

  Genres:

  Comedy

  Main Characters :

  Elle Woods, Paulette Parcelle

  Release Date:

  2022-05-01

  Prequel:

  Legally Blonde 2: Red White & Blonde, Legally Blonde

  Producer:

  Adam Siegel, Marc Platt, Lauren Levy Neustadter, Reese Witherspoon

  Production Company:

  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

  Rating:

  Not Yet Rated

  Writers:

  Karen McCullah, Mindy Kaling, Kirsten Smith, Dan Goor

  Main Genre:

  Comedy