Jason Moore on 'Murder, She Wrote' Film and 'Elle' S2
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- Jason Moore directed the first two episodes of Prime Video's 'Elle,' a 'Legally Blonde' prequel starring Lexi Minetree as young Elle Woods, with Reese Witherspoon producing and visiting set twice including the hospital scene filmed with 200 extras.
- To prepare Minetree, Moore hired a Broadway voice coach for months to replicate Witherspoon's intonations and breaths, and kept Witherspoon off set for the first weeks so Minetree could establish ownership of the role.
- 'Elle' Season 2 will feature entirely archival wardrobe drawn from the original film via the original costumer, while Season 1 was built to look archival but photographed with modern aesthetics after Moore tested older lenses and felt they looked 'like stuff you'd seen before.'
- Moore is directing a feature film adaptation of 'Murder, She Wrote' starring Jamie Lee Curtis as Jessica Fletcher, a role originated on TV by the late Angela Lansbury, leaning into 'classic Agatha Christie twisty-turny' storytelling.
- The 'Murder, She Wrote' film retains the typewriter as part of the modern-day story, with Easter eggs aimed at hardcore fans and a surprise use of the original theme song, Moore said.
- The show's all-female creative team is led by creator Laura Kittrell, with Moore the only male director — a setup he described as 'heaven,' noting his research showed the original 'Legally Blonde' was admired by many Black women despite its privileged white protagonist.
Why it matters: For two legacy IP adaptations, Moore confirms concrete production milestones: 'Elle' Season 2 uses all-original-film wardrobe, while the 'Murder, She Wrote' film has locked Jamie Lee Curtis as Jessica Fletcher in an Agatha Christie-style mystery. Prime Video builds franchise continuity around newcomer Lexi Minetree; Curtis inherits the late Angela Lansbury's role with Easter eggs for longtime fans.
