Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant Reunite for New Bridget Jones Rom-Com Adventure
In exciting news for fans of the beloved Bridget Jones franchise, Universal Pictures has confirmed that Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant are set to reprise their iconic roles in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the fourth installment of the hit romantic comedy series. The film is slated for a Valentine’s Day 2025 release in theaters internationally and streaming on Peacock in the U.S.
Zellweger, who earned her first Oscar nomination for playing the charmingly hapless British singleton in 2001’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, expressed her eagerness to inhabit the character again, stating, “I love being in her shoes. It makes me giggle every day on set, the choices that we get to make about just how awkward we can make her circumstances. It’s just so much fun.”
Hugh Grant Returns, New Faces Join the Cast
Notably, Hugh Grant is confirmed to return as Bridget’s former boss and love interest, the roguish Daniel Cleaver, after sitting out the previous film, Bridget Jones‘s Baby.
Emma Thompson will also reprise her role as Bridget’s doctor from the 2016 sequel.
Newcomers to the cast include Chiwetel Ejiofor, known for 12 Years a Slave and Doctor Strange, and rising star Leo Woodall from The White Lotus season 2 and the Netflix romance One Day, both in undisclosed roles that expand the story.
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Adapting Helen Fielding’s “Mad About the Boy” Novel
The fourth Bridget Jones movie takes its title and plot from creator Helen Fielding’s 2013 novel, which catches up with the heroine in her 50s.
Now a widow and single mother after Mark Darcy’s tragic death, Bridget navigates the modern challenges of parenting, body image, and dating in the age of social media.
Fielding, who is penning the screenplay and serving as executive producer7, had expressed her desire to adapt Mad About the Boy, teasing in 2022, “I’m working on it and I really hope it will happen.”
The book humorously explores Bridget getting to grips with the complexities of middle age and finding love again.
Bridget Jones Fever Set to Sweep London
With filming reportedly beginning in London this spring under the direction of Michael Morris (To Leslie), a source told Daily Mail, “Bridget Jones fever is expected to sweep across London this spring. There was some uncertainty about whether it would get off the ground, but the movie is coming.”
The Bridget Jones series, which has grossed over $750 million worldwide, holds a special place in the rom-com canon and pop culture landscape. Audiences have followed Bridget’s misadventures through three films over 20 years, making Zellweger and the character inextricable in the public imagination.
As Bridget Jones prepares to write the next chapter of her story, the excitement is palpable. Zellweger’s return to her signature role, coupled with the reunion of Grant and arrival of Ejiofor and Woodall, promises to deliver the heart, humor, and relatability that have made this franchise an enduring phenomenon.
