Reese Witherspoon gives Legally Blonde 3 update, cites Top Gun: Maverick as inspiration

Is Legally Blonde 3 still happening? Reese Witherspoon says yes, but only if it "comes together in the right way," according to a new interview. Thankfully, the star and producer has found an unlikely muse in Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick.

"I'm still hoping that Legally Blonde 3 is gonna come together in the right way," Witherspoon told USA Today. "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. I would never make the subpar, mediocre version of their story."

Everett Collection; Scott Garfield/Paramount Pictures Reese Witherspoon says 'Top Gun: Maverick' is an example of what she wants to do with the long-awaited 'Legally Blonde 3.'

The original Legally Blonde starred Witherspoon as a pink-loving Harvard law student and was a key moment in her ascension to movie stardom. It spawned a sequel and a Broadway musical, so rumors of a third film have been percolating for years. At the same time, Witherspoon has become a major Hollywood producer, shepherding female-focused films and TV shows like Big Little Lies, Little Fires Everywhere, and now Apple TV+'s Surface to the screen. If Legally Blonde 3 is going to happen, Witherspoon will both produce and star in it.

EW originally confirmed that the third film was a go in 2018, aiming for a release date of Valentine's Day 2020. The movie was pushed to 2022 after the pandemic threw a wrench in everyone's plans. Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor were brought on as screenwriters in 2020, and in March of this year Kaling told Time that the movie was being delayed indefinitely while they figured out their script. Kaling added that they hope to avoid the path of the recent Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That.

"We want to make sure that Elle Woods is not paying penance for existing in the year 2022," Kaling told Time. "As a fan, I didn't want to watch her be canceled or become a Karen. So the character is just fun. That's what's been interesting and challenging — and why it's taking us such a long time to write."

Witherspoon's latest comments make it clear that the film is definitely still percolating — and that, fingers crossed, it may feature Elle Woods piloting a F-35 Lightning II.

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