Reese Witherspoon Sings On To 'Legally Blonde 2'

Reese Witherspoon will receive $15 million from MGM to reprise her role as a bubbly blonde sorority girl turned legal eagle in "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde," reports Variety.

MGM has spent the past several months racing to put the comedy on the fast track for a July 2003 bow. With Witherspoon on board getting her biggest paycheck to date

First pic's helmer Robert Luketic has already passed on the sequel. Having helmed "Legally Blonde" in his first directing gig, Luketic is now currently busy tackling two projects at DreamWorks -- the romantic comedy "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton" and an adaptation of Donald Hamilton's novels featuring debonair spy Matt Helm.

"Legally Blonde," a comedy about a seemingly dimwitted Beverly Hills-bred girl named Elle Woods who enrolls in Harvard law school to win back her boyfriend, became a surprise sleeper hit in summer 2001, generating $96.5 million at the domestic B.O. and a major player on homevid.

Upon its success, MGM immediately began planning a sequel around the pink-obsessed character, who in the next installment finds herself running for political office.

Witherspoon will produce "Legally Blonde 2" through her Intermedia-based production company Type A Films.

MGM is hoping to begin shooting in November. The project is now out to directors.