It was recently announced that Reese Witherspoon was returning for a third Legally Blonde, and now MGM has revealed when Elle Woods will be back on the big screen. The Legally Blonde 3 release date is February 14, 2020, Valentine’s Day, where it will have its day in court against an Untitled Disney live-action film, an Untitled DC Extended Universe film and Blue Sky Studios’ animated adaptation of the web comic Nimona.
Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Karen McCullah are reportedly in final talks to write the script. Smith and McCullah adapted Amanda Brown’s novel for the first film, Legally Blonde, and will begin writing Legally Blonde 3 immediately as the project seeks out its director.
The plot details are currently unknown, but the third film is said to be in the spirit of the first film, with the intention to make this “more about female empowerment, a message that hits at a fortuitous time in the culture.” The minds behind the project are hoping to draw back the audience that fell in love with the original film as well as finding a new global audience that will embrace Elle Woods and the film’s message.
Legally Blonde debuted 17 years ago and told the story of Elle Woods, a fashionable sorority queen who is dumped by her boyfriend. She decides to follow him to law school and while she is there figures out that there is more to her than just her looks. In the 2003 sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, Woods heads to Washington D.C. to join the staff of a congresswoman in order to pass a bill to ban animal testing. The original movie grossed $141 million worldwide on an $18 million budget, with the sequel earning $124 million off of a $45 million budget.
Smith and McCullah’s other writing credits include 10 Things I Hate About You and House Bunny. Witherspoon is currently filming season two of HBO’s hit drama series Big Little Lies and is in pre-production on her untitled TV project for Apple, starring alongside Jennifer Aniston in a series that is said to be a behind-the-scenes look at a morning TV show broadcast from New York.
