Prime Video is making prequel series for Legally Blonde and Alex Cross – and you can watch the first trailer for Cross now

Image from season 1 of Cross
(Image credit: Prime Video)

It's prequel time at Prime Video: the streamer has released the trailer for Cross, a series prequel to the movies that previously starred Morgan Freeman and Tyler Perry, and a new teaser for Elle, the prequel series to Legally Blonde. 

Cross is based on the many Alex Cross detective novels by James Patterson, and Amazon is clearly confident that it has a hit on its hand: the show isn't even streaming yet and it's been greenlit for a second season. And Elle has Reese Witherspoon as executive producer, telling the story of Elle Woods' origins as a 1990s high schooler. 

According to Prime Video, “Elle follows Elle Woods in high school as we learn about the life experiences that shaped her into the iconic young woman we came to know and love in the first Legally Blonde film.” And Witherspoon for one is excited. "Fans will get to know how Elle Woods navigated her world as a teenager with her distinct personality and ingenuity, in ways that only our beloved Elle could do," she says. "What could be better than that?"

Could Cross be your next favorite detective show?

If you're not familiar with Alex Cross – and the books' sales figures suggest that many of you will be – he's a detective and forensic psychologist who's really good at getting under the skin of criminals and their victims, metaphorically speaking. He was played by Morgan Freeman in a pair of movies from the '90s – as a grizzled, older version of the character – and then by Tyler Perry in a 2012 movie.

The trailer suggests we're going to see a younger version of Cross trying to unravel the psyches of some pretty creepy criminals, and in Aldis Hodge it looks like the studio has found the perfect actor to play the titular detective. Although it appears that the season will include multiple criminal cases, it looks like there will also be a single, central case whose arc will run through the entire first season.

Cross will be streaming later this year, and Amazon has announced that the second season will introduce new cast members including Wes Chatham from The Expanse, Matthew Lillard from Five Nights at Freddy's and Jeanine Mason from Grey's Anatomy. As yet there's no streaming date for the second season. Or the first. As for Elle, Prime Video just says that's "coming soon" – we'll see if it can nail the delicate comedy balance it'll need to rank among the best Prime Video shows.

You might also like…

Carrie Marshall
Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.

Read more
Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in the original Legally Blonde movie
Prime Video’s Legally Blonde series has found its Elle Woods, and I’m delighted for the comeback of one of the best ‘00s movies
A college image showing artwork from the movie Unstoppable, show Severance and movie Alien: Romulus
7 new movies and TV shows to stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more this weekend (January 17)
A collage image of Alan Ritchson's Jack Reacher in season 3, Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Robert de Niro in Zero Day
7 new movies and TV shows to stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more this weekend (February 21)
A collage image showing an animated robot and duck, a man with crossed arms and two people looking over a barrier
7 new movies and TV shows to stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more this weekend (January 24)
watch back to the future online
Everything new on Prime Video in March 2025
A collage image with Iain Glen holding a gun in the left, Wallace and Gromit between a gnome and Brandy Norwood at a dinner table on the right
7 new movies and TV shows to stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Max, and more this weekend (January 3)
Latest in Amazon Prime Video
Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve dressed regally and on horseback in The Wheel of Time season 3
'There's a reason why we do it': The Wheel of Time showrunner responds to fans who are still upset over the Prime Video show's plot alterations
Cece Carroway (Sara Silva), Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook), and Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) in Cruel Intentions.
Cruel Intentions has been canceled after one season on Prime Video, but I'm not surprised by its cruel fate
Pia holding a camera and smiling at something off camera in Picture This.
Picture This is Prime Video's #1 movie, but it hasn't captured everyone – here are 3 more rom-coms to watch instead with over 85% on Rotten Tomatoes
A bloodied and crying Mark Grayson in the Invincible season 3 finale
Invincible season 3 ending explained: is [spoiler] dead, Damien Darkblood end credits scene, will there be a season 4, and more big questions answered
Moiraine using her magic in The Wheel of Time season 3
The Wheel of Time season 3 proves that Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show isn't the only high fantasy heavyweight worth watching on Prime Video
A group of people, including Rand and Moiraine, standing on a sandy cliff in The Wheel of Time season 3
'It's bigger, bolder, and bleaker': The Wheel of Time season 3 cast teases what to expect from the Prime Video show's most daunting chapter yet
Latest in News
A graphic of the PC Gaming Show
Get ready for a bounty of PC games on June 8, as the PC Gaming show is back
NordicTrack Ultra 1
The new NordicTrack Ultra 1 treadmill looks like it was designed by an architect and costs $15,000
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070
Nvidia RTX 5080 stock is so barren that retailers are holding competitions where you can "win" the right to buy one for MSRP
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft shareholder accuses publisher of 'misleading investors', plans protest outside Paris HQ
Google Gemini AI logo on a smartphone with Google background
I made an AI version of Bilbo Baggins using Goggle Gemini for free, and shared a pipe with him outside Bag End – here’s what you can now do with Gems
Nicole Kidman wears a blue blouse with her arms crossed.
Netflix might be renewing The Perfect Couple and Beauty in Black for season 2, but I don’t get why when it’s canceled shows with poorer ratings