Reese Witherspoon is finally making a third installment of the Elle Woods story. Following on the hot-pink heels of 2001's Legally Blonde and 2003's less popular Legally Blonde: Red, White and Blonde, Legally Blonde 3 is hitting the big screen in early 2020. Here's everything we know so far.
The plot: What's it about?
Reese Witherspoon, the movie's star, confirmed Legally Blonde 3 in June 2018.
"It's true... #LegallyBlonde3," Witherspoon posted on Instagram alongside a video of Elle Woods floating across a pool in a pink bikini. Giving details to CNET sister site ET in June 2019, Witherspoon said she wants Elle to "go on a hero's journey" like she does in the original movie. "[We have] a script, but we haven't shot anything," Witherspoon said at the time.
As of October 2019, however, Witherspoon was cautioning that the movie may not happen.
"It's just a development project right now, so we'll see," Witherspoon told ET at a screening of Apple TV Plus' The Morning Show on Oct. 30.
Cast and crew: Who's in it?
According to IMDb, the official cast of Legally Blonde 3 so far includes:
- Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods
- Jessica Cauffiel as Margot
- Alanna Ubach as Elle's other sorority sister Serena McGuire
"[There are] some returning characters and some new characters," Witherspoon told ET in June 2019. "I love Jennifer Coolidge and Luke Wilson and Selma Blair ... if we end up doing it, hopefully they end up all being there," she added in October.
Luke Wilson, who plays Elle's love interest Emmett Richmond, told ET in June he'd "definitely be up for it."
"I can't imagine anything that would be more fun," he said about returning for the sequel.
"It's all up to Reese," Jennifer Coolidge, who played Paulette Bonafonte, said. "I would do another one."
"Yes!" Ali Larter, who played Brooke Taylor-Windham, said when asked if she would go back.
"Nothing confirmed yet; we'll see," Matthew Davis, who played the much-hated Warner Huntington III, said.
"I'd be there in a heartbeat if I was asked," Regina King of Legally Blonde 2 said.
Even Linda Cardellini, who played the first movie's killer Chutney Windham, said she'd go back. "I'll go no perm if I have to," she said. "Or full perm. Whatever they need, I'll be there."
Jessica Cauffiel, who played Elle's sorority sister Margot, revealed on Instagram that she would be coming "out of retirement" to join the sequel.
Witherspoon has also signed on as one of the movie's producers, according to IMDb.
Release date: When can I see it?
The movie's coming out on Valentine's Day 2020, MGM Studios confirmed on Instagram. MGM confirmed in November 2019 that the release date has been pushed back to May 8, 2020, however.
Rumors: What could the movie cover?
The first film covered Elle's run at Harvard Law School, while the second focused on her move from Boston to Washington DC to lobby for a bill outlawing animal testing for cosmetics. At the end of the second installment, Elle hinted to new husband Emmett that she might want to live in the White House.
In Legally Blondes -- the forgotten spinoff of the series that went straight to DVD and the Disney Channel -- it's stated that Elle has become a successful lobbyist in DC. That 2009 film followed a set of teen identical twins with British accents who were supposed to be Elle's cousins.
We'll have to wait and see whether the third movie will cover Elle's journey from a lobbyist into the White House itself.
Originally published Sept. 16.
Updates, Sept. 19: Adds info on Witherspoon's producer role; Nov. 4: adds Witherspoon's warnings that the movie is still just a development project, and comments on wanting Coolidge, Wilson and Blair back; Dec. 6: Adds new release date.
