New Delhi, July 13 -- NEW YORK - When Lexi Minetree walked into SVA Theater in New York on June 23, she was not simply attending a premiere. She was carrying a character that Reese Witherspoon had built into a cultural artifact over 25 years - and doing it on television, across eight episodes that Amazon had already renewed for a second season before the first one aired.

Elle, Prime Video's prequel series to the Legally Blonde films, arrived this month on the platform with the quiet confidence of a streaming service that had already made its call. The decision to adapt Elle Woods for television rather than another film was not a compromise or a budget consideration. According to the show's creative team, it was the whole point.

Co-showr...