Legally Blonde(2001)

Name: Legally Blonde
Director: Robert Luketic
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Released: Jul 13, 2001
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

PG-13
1h 36m
- Comedy
- Romance

Release Date: Jul 13, 2001 | Wide

72%
72%
A-
6.5

Fashionable sorority queen Elle Woods follows her ex-boyfriend to law school, where she discovers that there is more to her than just looks.

Releases

Original Release | Jul 13, 2001

25th Anniversary (Fathom Entertainment) | May 24, 2026

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Box Office Results

Updated as of Jun 01, 2026 11:09 AM ET

All Releases (2)
Total US & Canada:
$96,673,082
Total International
$45,254,741
Total Worldwide:
$141,934,279

Total US & Canada:
$96,483,526
Total International
$45,254,005
Total Worldwide:
$141,737,531

Current Showtimes

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Tue Jun 2
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Thu Jun 4
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Sat Jun 6
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Director & Top Cast

Robert Luketic
Director

Reese Witherspoon
Elle Woods

Luke Wilson
Emmett

Selma Blair
Vivian

Matthew Davis
Warner

Victor Garber
Professor Callahan

Jennifer Coolidge

Paulette

Holland Taylor

Professor Stromwell

Ali Larter

Brooke Taylor Windham

Jessica Cauffiel

Margot

Alanna Ubach

Serena

Osgood Perkins

Dorky David

Linda Cardellini

Chutney

Bruce Thomas

UPS Guy

Meredith Scott Lynn

Enid

Raquel Welch

Mrs. Windham Vandermark

Samantha Lemole

Claire

Kelly Nyks

Arrogant Aaron

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: DTS-Stereo,DTS,SDDS,Dolby Digital

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English,Vietnamese

Summaries

Plot Summary

Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is a senior at CULA which is a large college in southern California. She belongs to a sorority and everyone's excited because they are sure her boyfriend Warner (Matthew Davis) is about to propose to her. When she is out to dinner, her boyfriend tells her that he's been thinking about their relationship and has decided that even though he loves her, they have to break up. He's going to Harvard Law school and eventually plans to run for political office, and he feels that Elle would be a hindrance.Elle is devastated and goes back to her sorority where she locks herself in her room for a week. She decides that the way to get her boyfriend back is to go to Harvard Law School. Elle's best friends and sorority sisters Margot (Jessica Cauffiel) and Serena (Alanna Ubach) are supportive, but cannot understand why Elle would want to do this. She applies and actually studies hard for the law school entrance exam and does very well. She sends Harvard a video essay on herself in which we see her in several tight-fitting dresses and bikinis. The people on the admittance committee are very impressed by her "assets" and decide to admit her.Elle is a fish completely out of water and every one of the entering classes has credentials so much beyond her that they are all amazed that she is even there. In the first five minutes of her first class, she gets tossed out because she didn't realize that they had a lesson to prepare. The instructor of the class Professor Elspeth Stromwell (Holland Taylor) asks one of the other students named Vivian (Selma Blair) whether or not Elle should be tossed out and Vivian says yes.Elle leaves the class and goes out to the courtyard where she talks to an older student Emmet (Luke Wilson), and he clues her into some of the things she should expect from the instructors. Warner shows up and she's thrilled to see him. Then Vivian shows up. Turns out that Warner is engaged to Vivian. Vivian and Elle are enemies and Vivian tries to insult and play tricks on Elle such as telling Elle about a party and tells her it's a costume party even though it's not. This trick and the way Warner reacts to her at the party makes her decide to really start working at law school. In one of her classes, the instructor Professor Callahan (Victor Garber) is very impressed with her abilities and asks her to help out with a murder trial.The murder trial involves a younger woman, Brooke Taylor (Ali Larter), who supposedly murdered her husband. It turns out that the Brooke belonged to the same sorority as Elle, and she just can't believe she's guilty. The supposed murderess has a large exercise equipment and video business that Elle frequently used.Elle talks with Brooke and discovers that she has an alibi for the time of the murder, but she does not want it used. Brooke was getting liposuction at the time of the murder and thinks this will ruin her weight loss business. Elle tells Callahan that she cannot divulge the alibi. This impresses Vivian and she and Elle become friends. The prosecution claims that the couples pool man has been having an affair with Brooke. During a break in the trial, the pool man makes a comment about Elle's shoes, and she realizes that he is gay.Emmet is also on the defense team of lawyers. He uses this information to trick the pool man into revealing he is gay and couldn't have had an affair with Brooke. Everyone is very impressed with Elle's intuition. That evening after the days trial has ended, Callahan asks Elle into his office and tells her how very impressed he is with her abilities and wonders if she would be interested in an intern program with his law firm. She's very thrilled by the offer until he makes it clear what she will have to do to get the position.Elle is disgusted that he came on to her just because she's pretty and decides to quit Law School and go back to California. At a beauty parlor in the Harvard area, Elle is talking to a beautician Paulette (Jennifer Coolidge) she befriended earlier. She's telling her why she decided to leave and unknown to Elle, the woman teacher who threw her out of class overhears. Professor Elspeth tells Elle that she thinks she has more talent than she's given credit for and shouldn't let this stop her from pursuing law.Elle tells Emmet what happened, and he talks to Brooke, and she decides to fire her Callahan and hire Elle. Elle takes over the case and starts to question the victim's daughter Chutney (Linda Cardellini).Brooke's stepdaughter claims that she had come home, got into the shower and when she got out, she went downstairs and found Brooke standing over her husband's body and she was covered in blood. Elle asks her what she had done earlier in the day. She claims she had gone out and gotten a perm. Elle starts questioning the daughter about how many perms she has had and then asks her what happens to a perm if it gets wet within 24 hours. Any fashion-conscious lawyer knows that a perm has to remain dry for 24 hours. The daughter becomes flustered and admits to the shooting, saying that she thought she was shooting Brooke and didn't realize it was her father. She was angry that the wife was her age. The case is dismissed, and Elle is the heroine.Two years later, it is time for the Harvard Law School graduation. The woman who threw Elle out is talking to the graduating students. She introduces Elle who is going to give the commencement speech. Vivian and Elle are good friends. Her ex-boyfriend graduates without honors and no job. Emmet and Elle have been dating for two years and he's going to propose that night.

Storyline

Elle Woods is a fashionable sorority queen of her college -- she has it all, a handsome boyfriend, wealth, and status. Things begin to change for Elle when her boyfriend, Warner dumps her and he starts dating Vivian, a law student. Elle decides to win back her former boyfriend by applying to Harvard Law School, she is able to pass her test and get into Harvard. Being in Harvard may not be easy for Elle, she soon falls in love with Emmett and she befriends Paulette, a manicurist at the nail salon. Along the way, Elle decides to take her studies more seriously and she must take on a court case when her role model Brooke Windham is accused of murdering her husband. Elle is determined to prove Brooke's innocence. — dawsonpersi Elle Woods ( Reese Witherspoon ) has it all. She's the President of her sorority, a Hawaiian Tropic girl, Miss June in her campus calendar, and, above all, a natural blonde. She dates the cutest fraternity boy on campus and wants nothing more than to be Mrs. Warner Huntington III. But, there's just one thing stopping Warner ( Matthew Davis ) from popping the question: Elle is too blonde. Growing up across the street from Aaron Spelling might mean something in Los Angeles, California, but nothing to Warner's East-Coast blue blood family. So, when Warner packs up for Harvard Law and reunites with an old sweetheart from prep school, Elle rallies all her resources and gets into Harvard, determined to win him back. But law school is a far cry from the comforts of her poolside and the mall. Elle must wage the battle of her life, for her guy, for herself and for all the blondes who suffer endless indignities everyday. — vanessawhistler1971@hotmail.com

Frequently Asked Questions

Who directed Legally Blonde?

Who wrote Legally Blonde?

Who stars in Legally Blonde?

When did Legally Blonde originally release?

Why is Legally Blonde returning to theatres in 2026?

When can audiences see the Legally Blonde 25th anniversary re-release?

Will the re-release include any new content?

What is Elle?

What is the runtime of Legally Blonde?

Box Office: How did Legally Blonde perform originally?

Fun Facts

Author Amanda Brown wrote the novel on pink paper with a pink furry pen. An agent spotted it in the submission pile solely because the color made it stand out, and MGM bought it the same day — sparking an overnight bidding war. The film nods to this origin by having Elle submit scented pink résumés to Harvard.

The film originally ended at the courthouse after Elle won the case, but test audiences wanted to see her succeed at graduation. The new finale was shot at Dulwich College in London because Reese Witherspoon was already there filming The Importance of Being Earnest. Both she and Luke Wilson had to wear wigs for the scene: she had cut her hair, and he had shaved his head for The Royal Tenenbaums.