Legally Blonde solidified the career of Reese Witherspoon, and with good reason. The frothy 2001 comedy, about the seemingly ditzy Elle Woods who chases the man who dumped her to law school only to find she’s quite good as a lawyer, was far better than it sounded on paper, thanks in part to a pretty great cast, and it racked up two Golden Globe nominations. Since then, the franchise’s torch has largely been carried by a popular Broadway musical and its perpetual rotation in the DVD and streaming collections of comedy fans, and that may be enough for a third go.
Deadline is reporting Reese Witherspoon is putting together the original screenwriters and producers for a Legally Blonde 3, and it appears to be picking up on the current legal moment:
They are keeping the plot under wraps, but I’m told it will be much in the spirit of the first film, in which Woods’ idealism and pink-dominant wardrobe prevailed over the cynicism and snootiness all around her…. The intention here is to make this more about female empowerment, a message that hits at a fortuitous time in the culture. The feeling is to draw back in the audience that grew up with the original film and find a new global audience.
On the one hand, considering where the law is heading in this particular moment, it’s difficult to see where Elle fits in; the franchise got around the grave politics of the Bush era by having Elle be an animal-rights crusader. But on the other, the franchise is all about taking down smug d-bags, which is always popular no matter what era we’re in. We won’t find out for a while: The sequel still needs to find a director, but it seems likely that Elle will file at least one more brief.
(via Deadline)
