Legally Blonde 3: what we know so far

No need to book a last-minute restaurant for Valentine’s Day next year; if you can convince your other half to go, Legally Blonde 3 is penned for release on 14 February in France, before coming to UK cinemas on 8 May 2020.

The early-2000s romantic comedy spawned a sequel and a musical, which won three Olivier Awards on the West End. But with its blondes-can-be-clever linchpin, the story and its message need updating for the present day – it will be a challenge to see how this develops 19 years later.

Reese Witherspoon plays Elle Woods, fashion-conscious sorority darling and Harvard Law School standout, in the first two films. She confirmed the character’s next appearance on Instagram last summer, posting a video of her sunbathing on a pool lilo and clad in Elle’s signature pink sequinned bikini.

Further details have since emerged about the next instalment, among them that Witherspoon’s own production company, Hello Sunshine, will be collaborating on the film.

Witherspoon herself will star, off the back of her role in critically acclaimed HBO series Big Little Lies. Jessica Cauffiel and Alanna Ubach, who played Elle’s faithful comedy sidekicks in the first two films, will also reprise their roles according to IMDb.

Original screenwriters Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah have produced the script for the new film, and Witherspoon is set to collaborate on production with Legally Blonde veterans Marc Platt and Adam Siegel.

Almost two decades later, and still with much of the same team on board, hopefully Legally Blonde 3 will deliver fresh takes and feminist mores to update this well-watched comedy.