Reese Witherspoon in talks to return for Legally Blonde 3

Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in the original Legally Blonde movie. The actress is said to be in talks to reprise her role in Legally Blonde 3. Photo / Supplied

Fans of fabulous fashion and caustic wit rejoice: brainy bombshell Elle Woods is on her way back for a new outing in a third Legally Blonde film.

The first film, released in 2001, defined Reese Witherspoon as the determined blonde sorority girl who defied establishment expectations to get into Harvard Law School in 2001

Since then, Robert Luketic's uplifting college movie spawned one film sequel and a musical, in which Sheridan Smith played Elle in the West End version.

Now Witherspoon, 42, is picking up her Prada briefcase for a third time and bringing most of the original creative team with her.

According to industry press Deadline, The Best Actress Oscar-winner is close to securing a deal with studio MGM along with returning writers Kirsten 'Kiwi' Smith and Karen McCullah, who also wrote beloved teen movie 10 Things I Hate About You.

Original producer Marc Platt will be joined by Adam Siegal and Witherspoon's own Hello Sunshine production company. It's not the first time Witherspoon has produced a film she has starred in; she also has production credits on Legally Blonde 2 and Wild, as well as working behind the camera on Gone Girl.

It is understood that Smith and McCullah will begin writing immediately, while the hunt for a director is still underway.

Witherspoon is yet to publicly discuss a Legally Blonde sequel.