Legally Blonde is a 2001 American drama film directed by Robert Luketic. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber and Jennifer Coolidge. The story follows Elle Woods (Witherspoon), a sister who tries to win back her ex-boyfriend Warner Huntington III (Davis) by earning a Juris Doctor at Harvard Law School, overcoming stereotypes against blondes, and triumphing as a successful lawyer. The film first ended at the courthouse shortly after Woods won the case, with Elle on the steps of the courthouse sharing a victory kiss with Emmett, and then a year into the future for her and a now blonde Vivian who created her own blonde legal defense club at law school. After the test audience revealed that they didn`t like this ending, McCullah Lutz and Smith consulted luketic, Platt, and other members of the production team while they were still in the movie lobby, and they all agreed that a new conclusion was needed. “It was just a weak ending,” explained screenwriter McCullah Lutz. “The kiss didn`t feel good to me because it`s not a rom-com – it wasn`t about their relationship. So the test audience said, “We want to see what happens – we want her to pass.” That`s why we rewrote for the diploma. [31] Ubach and Jessica Cauffiel claim that the original ending also included Elle and Vivian, who drank margaritas in Hawaii, with the implication that they were either now best friends or romantically involved, although Smith and McCullah never wrote such an ending. Other proposed endings for the film were a musical number in which Elle, the judge, the jury and everyone in the courthouse burst into song and dance. [13] Legally Blonde`s broad outlines grew out of Brown`s experiences as a blonde who went to Stanford Law School while obsessed with fashion and beauty, reading Elle magazine and frequently clashing with the personalities of her peers. In 2000, Brown met producer Marc Platt, who helped her develop her manuscript into a novel.
Platt enlisted the help of screenwriters McCullah Lutz and Smith to adapt the book into a film. The project caught the attention of director Luketic, an Australian newcomer who came to Hollywood when his first eccentric short titsiana Booberini was a success. “I had been reading scripts for two years and couldn`t find anything to put my personal stamp on until Legally Blonde appeared,” Luketic said. Witherspoon wore 40 different hairstyles in the film. [22] “Oh my God, it became known as `The Hair That Eat Hollywood,`” Luketiker said. “It was all about the hair. I have this obsession with flyaways. It would annoy Reese a bit because I always had hairdressers on my face. But really most of the time, the research and testing on set was aimed at getting the right color, because “blonde” is subject to interpretation, I thought. [12] Producer Marc Platt was fascinated by the character of Elle Woods when she was given an unpublished novel manuscript. [8] “What I liked about this story is that it`s hilarious, sexy and challenging,” Platt says. “The world looks at Her and sees someone who is blonde and handsome, but no more.
She, on the other hand, does not judge herself or anyone else. She thinks the world is great, she`s great, everyone is great and nothing can change that. She is truly an irrepressible modern heroine. [8] Amanda Brown published Legally Blonde in 2001, drawing on her real-life experiences as a blonde who attended Stanford Law School while obsessed with fashion and beauty, reading Elle magazine and frequently bumping into the personalities of her peers. [6] Luketic explained that when the project gave the go-ahead, the studio didn`t know the film would be structured as an increasingly enjoyable film to empower women. [12] “Initially, they thought it would be a lot more T-shirts and wet breasts than it turned out,” Luketic said. [12] In fact, Legally Blonde`s first script was and slippery in the same way as American Pie. The murder trial was not part of the plot and the film ended with Elle getting into a relationship with a professor. “He went from non-stop zingers who were very adult to this universal story of overcoming adversity by being yourself,” Smith said.
When it was decided to change the plot of the film, McCullah and Smith refined some details and added a few characters, like Paulette. [13] In April 2007, a musical adaptation premiered on Broadway with mixed reviews,[60] with Laura Bell Bundy as Elle, Christian Borle as Emmett, Orfeh as Paulette, Nikki Snelson as Brooke, Richard H. Blake as Warner, Kate Shindle as Vivienne, and Michael Rupert as Callahan,[61] until October 19, 2008. The show, Bundy, Borle and Orfeh have all been nominated for Tony Awards. Later, the Broadway show was the subject of an mtv reality series titled Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Woods, in which the winner was to play the role of Elle on Broadway.[62] Bailey Hanks of Anderson, South Carolina, won the competition. [63] A queen sister follows her ex to law school, determined to win him back.plus The writers introduced themselves to Luke Wilson when they developed Elle`s love interest, Emmett Richmond. “You auditioned a few other guys and we`re like, `How about auditioning Luke Wilson for the role of Luke Wilson? McCullah Lutz said. Middleton wanted to cast Paul Bettany as Emmett, but the team felt the character should be American, while Bettany is British.[15] [13] Legally Blonde was released in North America on July 13, 2001. Its $20 million[3] on the opening weekend made it a dormant hit for the struggling MGM studio, and it continued at $96.5 million in North America and $45.2 million elsewhere, for a total of $141.7 million worldwide.
[3] The film was released in the UK on October 26, 2001 and opened at #2, behind American Pie 2. [33] The film was released on DVD on April 28, 2009 and aired on ABC Family and Disney Channel. Although the film is primarily set at Harvard University, the campus scenes were shot at USC,[24] the University of California, Los Angeles,[25] the California Institute of Technology, and Rose City High School in Pasadena, California. [26] Production initially lasted from October to December 2000. [27] [28]. Others were more critical of the film and its script. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter described the film as “predictable, cute and surprisingly short in true humor,” but “still manages to make ends meet thanks to Witherspoon`s magnetic presence.” [42] Michael O`Sullivan of the Washington Post called the film “redux distraught, but without the angry and scholarly joke.” [43] Jessica Winter of The Village Voice described the film as a “junk food movie that strives to be nutritious.” “This is one of your most razier Be Yourself After-School specials that started with Who Moved My Cheese? for the Cosmo girls,” Winter said. [44]. The “Bend and Snap” scene, in which Elle Paulette explains how to attract her crush`s attention, was almost not part of the film. [29] “[Producer] Marc Platt wanted a B plot for Paulette (Jennifer Coolidge),” McCullah Lutz told Entertainment Weekly.