Elle Director Jason Moore on Reese Witherspoon’s Set Visit, Season 2’s Archival Wardrobe, and What the Murder She Wrote Movie Looks Like

Two Iconic Properties, One Director

Jason Moore is having a moment. The Tony-nominated director, best known for bringing Avenue Q and Shrek the Musical to Broadway, is currently steering two of the most anticipated projects in Hollywood — both of them based on beloved IP with fiercely devoted fanbases.

He directed the first two episodes of Elle, Prime Video’s Legally Blonde prequel series. And he’s also at the helm of the upcoming Murder, She Wrote feature film, starring Jamie Lee Curtis as the iconic Jessica Fletcher. In a recent interview, Moore opened up about both projects, offering fans a glimpse into what’s coming.

Elle: Bringing Elle Woods Back to High School

Elle takes us back to where it all started. Long before Elle Woods walked into Harvard Law School in a pink bikini and proved everyone wrong, she was a high school student figuring out who she was. The series stars Lexi Minetree as a young Elle Woods, navigating the social minefield of high school while developing the confidence and determination that would later define her.

Moore revealed that Reese Witherspoon, who originated the role of Elle Woods in the 2001 film and serves as executive producer through her Hello Sunshine company, visited the set during production. Her involvement goes beyond a simple producer credit — she’s been deeply invested in making sure the prequel honors the spirit of the original while standing on its own.

“Reese came to set, and it was this incredible moment of passing the torch,” Moore said. You can feel the respect in how he describes her involvement. Witherspoon didn’t want to dictate every choice — she wanted to empower the new cast and creative team to make Elle their own while staying true to what made the character resonate with millions of fans worldwide.

What to Expect From Season 1

The first season of Elle covers Elle Woods’ senior year of high school. Fans of the original films will recognize the seeds of the character they love — her optimism, her refusal to let anyone define her, and her distinctive sense of style. But this is also a chance to see Elle before she became the confident law student we know. She’s still figuring things out, making mistakes, and learning the lessons that will carry her through Harvard and beyond.

Moore emphasized that the series treats Elle’s intelligence seriously. “She’s not just the dumb blonde who surprises everyone,” he noted. “She’s genuinely smart. She just expresses it differently than people expect.” That distinction — between ignorance and underestimated intelligence — has always been the heart of Legally Blonde’s appeal, and the series sounds like it understands that completely.

Season 2’s Archival-Only Wardrobe

One of the more fascinating details Moore shared involves Season 2. The costume department is planning an archival-only wardrobe approach — pulling pieces from vintage and designer archives rather than creating everything from scratch. This gives the show a period-authentic feel while also nodding to the original film’s iconic fashion moments.

Elle Woods’ fashion has always been a character in itself. From the pink bunny costume at the Harvard-themed party to the courtroom scene where her “legal” look won the day, clothing choices have communicated as much as dialogue in the Legally Blonde universe. The archival approach suggests Season 2 will lean even harder into fashion as storytelling.

Murder, She Wrote: Jamie Lee Curtis Takes Over as Jessica Fletcher

While Elle is already generating buzz, Moore’s other project might be the one that surprises everyone. He’s directing the Murder, She Wrote movie, with Jamie Lee Curtis stepping into the role of Jessica Fletcher — the mystery writer and amateur detective originally played by the late Angela Lansbury.

Curtis is an inspired choice. She brings the same warmth and intelligence that Lansbury made iconic, but with her own edge. Anyone who’s seen her in Knives Out knows she understands exactly how to play a sharp, observant character who’s always a step ahead of everyone else. That’s Jessica Fletcher to a T. She also brought that same energy to Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, proving she can anchor a whodunit ensemble effortlessly.

Moore described the film as “hardcore” for fans — not a watered-down reboot, but a genuine mystery that respects the source material. That’s the right approach. The original series ran for 12 seasons because audiences loved watching a smart, capable woman solve puzzles that stumped everyone else. A movie that tries to reinvent the formula would miss the point entirely.

The key, Moore suggests, is treating the mystery seriously. Jessica Fletcher’s appeal wasn’t just that she solved crimes — it was how she solved them. Through observation, empathy, and an understanding of human nature. Those are timeless storytelling tools, and they don’t need modernizing.

The Jason Moore Approach

What connects these two projects is Moore’s approach to beloved IP. He doesn’t treat adaptations as merchandise extensions. He approaches them as stories first — stories that happen to come with built-in audiences because they were good enough to earn those audiences in the first place.

His theater background is evident in how he talks about both projects. There’s an emphasis on character, on emotional truth, on the relationships between people in a scene. That’s theater training showing itself. Whether it’s Elle Woods discovering her voice or Jessica Fletcher deducing a killer’s identity, Moore’s focus is on the human moment at the center of the genre trappings. His stage work on Pitch Perfect — where he directed the original musical — shows the same commitment to finding emotional honesty within entertaining premises.

This is refreshing at a time when so many adaptations feel like corporate products designed by committee. Moore’s projects feel personal, considered, and made by people who actually care about the source material.

What This Means for Streaming

Both projects highlight an interesting trend in 2026’s streaming landscape. Prime Video is betting big on Elle as part of its strategy to build franchise series around beloved film properties. The Legally Blonde universe has proven staying power — the original film is still quoted and referenced by new generations of fans who discover it on streaming. A prequel series that expands that world without retreading familiar ground is a smart play.

The Murder, She Wrote movie is a different kind of bet. Mystery remains one of the most consistently popular genres across all demographics, yet theatrical mysteries have been relatively rare compared to action and superhero fare. If Curtis and Moore can deliver a satisfying whodunit, it could open the door for more mystery-focused theatrical releases — something audiences have been asking for.

The Bottom Line

Jason Moore is directing two of the most anticipated projects in Hollywood right now, and the early signs are promising. Elle sounds like it understands what made Legally Blonde special — a smart heroine who refuses to be underestimated — while the Murder, She Wrote movie is taking the right approach by respecting the original rather than reinventing it.

Both projects are worth putting on your radar. One brings back a beloved character in a new chapter of her life. The other brings a beloved franchise to the big screen for the first time. And both are being made by someone who genuinely cares about getting them right.