Elle Woods of Legally Blonde fame once said, “The rules of hair care are simple and finite.” And so are the rules of entertainment. If there's one thing about us '90s girls, we all love a good nostalgic reboot. Yes, you guessed it, Legally Blonde is getting the prequel treatment.
More than two decades after the film, everyone's favourite lawyer, Woods comma Elle, is returning to our screens. And the prequel will be called Elle.
How excited are we? Even better, we now know who will be playing Elle this time around. Reese shared a video on Instagram of the moment she told Law and Order star Lexi Minetree that she would be playing Elle in the series, which will focus on her high school life before applying for college and Harvard.
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They even called Lexi's mum to tell her the great news, with Reese commenting on how similar Lexi is to her. “When I saw her tape, I was like, ‘Are we the same person?’” Witherspoon joked.
Now, after months of anticipation, the prequel has just gotten a release window of summer 2026. An apt season considering Elle Woods is from sunny California and we can't wait to see her high school style (fingers crossed for some Clueless references). Reese announced the news in a sweet Instagram post featuring Lexi in a classroom, with a pom pom pen, of course. Her notepaper is probably also scented, if we have to guess.
“I'm so thrilled to introduce Lexi Minetree as Elle Woods, the new star of our TV show Elle,” Reese gushes. “She is stepping into these pink shoes with so much grace, ambition and charm. Elle is coming to Prime Video summer 2026!”
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Lexi also posted her own Instagram post about her excitement at being cast. “My brain is going nuts over here I don’t even know where to BEGIN,” she wrote. "THANK YOU to [Reese Witherspoon] for handing me down Elle Woods. I already love her so so much, I promise she’s in good hands."
The news of a Legally Blonde series, which will stream on Prime Video, was announced last year. Reese Witherspoon then gave us a few more details about the series — while wearing Elle's iconic pink skirt suit, naturally. During the event, Witherspoon revealed that the series would be a prequel that followed Elle's adventures as a high schooler back in the 90s. Just think of the fashion!
Reese already opened up to People about the processing of casting Elle, calling it a “trip”. “It's so exciting too, to watch these young girls that are so filled with enthusiasm and excitement and completely... There [are] so many good ones. That's the hard thing because there's so many good people to choose from."
“I truly couldn’t be more excited about this series!" she previously told Deadline. "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. 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!”
Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman have both hinted that they’re hard at work on a third season.
Vernon Sanders, head of television at Amazon MGM Studios, added: “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 honoured to bring her origin story to our global Prime Video customers.”
Witherspoon previously took to Instagram to share a clip of her getting ready for the event, which was a cute little nod to the iconic opening scene of the original film. The clip also included a “top secret script” — which is pink and scented, naturally.
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“Before she became the most famous Gemini vegetarian to graduate from Harvard Law, she was just a regular ‘90s high school girl,” she wrote in the caption. “And all of you are going to get to know her, next year on @primevideo. I’M SO EXCITED!”
Honestly Reese, so are we!
What will Legally Blonde prequel series Elle be about?
The synopsis for the TV series reads: "Elle 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 film.”
A further summary for Elle gave us a bit more info about what to expect from the prequel story. "A driven, natural born leader who will always stop to straighten another woman’s crown, Elle’s magnetic personality brightens the world with confidence, vulnerability, and an earnestness that charms everyone around her.
“Coming of age in the '90s, Elle will encounter her first love and her first heartbreak, and she will find her moral convictions.”
Reese even opened up Netflix's Wednesday inspiring her prequel idea. “I saw that Wednesday Addams show, I loved it, I watched every single episode,” she said during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “I was like, ‘We should do Elle Woods in high school!’ Because I wanted to see who she was before college, before law school, and I started having all these ideas.”
Elle release date
Elle will premiere exclusively on Prime Video at some point in 2025, with filming beginning in March 2025, according to People.
And this prequel series isn't the only thing we have to be excited about — a third film starring Witherspoon and Jennifer Coolidge is also in the works.
“Oh, it’s gonna be so fun!" Witherspoon previously said of the project. "I got to go to a meeting the other day where we talked about all the new plot points and all the characters and some returning characters and some new characters. I mean, I got so excited just in the meeting. I was like, ‘This is gonna be good.’”
Could 2025 be the year of Elle Woods? It certainly seems that way — so don't put away your Barbiecore pink just yet.
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