Reese Witherspoon Makes Huge ‘Legally Blonde’ Announcement
By Kelly Coffey-Behrens on May 14, 2024 at 4:45 PM EDT
Reese Witherspoon made a huge announcement regarding 'Legally Blonde,' and she did it the only way she could.. by bending and snapping!
In the 2001 movie, Witherspoon portrays the iconic character Elle Woods, who is looked at as a seemingly stereotypical sorority girl with a love for fashion, pink, and all things glamorous. However, Elle shocks her friends and family when she decides to follow her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School in an attempt to win him back.
'Legally Blonde' Soars To New Heights
'Legally Blonde' has become a cultural phenomenon, and Witherspoon's portrayal of Elle Woods remains one of her most iconic roles. Thanks to its popularity, a sequel, 'Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde,' and a Broadway musical adaptation were released.
Witherspoon also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and a nomination at the 2002 MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance. The film grossed $141.7 million worldwide, including $96.5 million in North America and $45.2 million elsewhere.
"I'm so honored to have been a part of sharing her story with you all," Witherspoon shared when the movie turned 20 years old. "Every meme, graduation cap, musical number, Halloween costume, and bend & snap has brought me so much JOY over these past two decades! I wonder... what will Elle do next?"
After she seemingly teased a third film, it has been confirmed that the 'Legally Blonde' legacy is not over.
What's Next For The 'Legally Blonde' Franchise?
On Tuesday, May 14, Reese Witherspoon took the stage at Amazon Prime Video’s upfront presentation to make a huge announcement.
For those of you who love to "bend and snap," get ready because an Elle Woods prequel series is in the works! Of course, they made the announcement in the most iconic way possible as one of Witherspoon's fellow presenters dropped a pen while "asking for an autograph," to which Witherspoon proceeded to pick up with her iconic "bend and snap."
“I got it because when you get nervous in front of a really big group of people that you’re trying to impress, all you have to do is bend and snap,” she said via Variety.
Of course, the bend and snap is one of the most iconic scenes from 'Legally Blonde,' but Jennifer Coolidge says it's "misleading."
"I've never had bending over work for me like it did in that movie," Coolidge told Deadline. "I think that the bend and snap is misleading. But I'd have to say when I did do the bend and snap, I was wearing my underwear and I feel like in real life you have to leave it off."
'Elle' In Works At Amazon
At the Amazon Prime presentation, Reese Witherspoon told fans that the upcoming project will be titled 'Elle.'
“I had this crazy idea that the world might want to know the origin story of Elle Woods,” she said at the panel. “So, here I am to officially tell you the most amazing news ever, which is that we’re going back to high school with Elle."
“Before she became the most famous Gemini vegetarian to graduate from Harvard Law School, she was just a regular ‘90s high school girl. And thanks to Amazon and Hello Sunshine, all of you are going to get to know her in this new series on Amazon Prime Video," Witherspoon, who sported a pink ensemble, said. "I’m so excited.”
The actress is an executive producer on the show along with Lauren Kisilevsky, Marc Platt, and Lauren Neustadter.
Get Ready To 'Bend & Snap' In Amazon's 'Elle'
Deadline previously reported, "Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine company are behind 'Legally Blonde' spinoff TV series inspired by the popular film franchise that is in development at Amazon MGM Studios."
Witherspoon previously spoke about a possible third film. "I'm still hoping that Legally Blonde 3 is going to come together in the right way," she told USA Today in 2022. "It's just like 'Top Gun': They waited a long time to make another version of that movie, and I loved the nostalgia piece they incorporated in it. So definitely that gave us a lot of inspiration about what we would want to do with Elle Woods and make sure that we had all those same touchstones that mattered to people [back] then."
"I feel like these characters are my friends, so I safeguard them," she added. "I would never make the subpar, mediocre version of their story."
While fans may not get a third film, they are getting a new spin-off! A release date has yet to be announced.