You better cook a blue soup and blast Jamie O’Neal’s All By Myself tonight to celebrate the news: the fourth Bridget Jones film is on the way.
Helen Fielding, author of the Bridget Jones books, first announced in 2022 that she was working on a fourth film, and Universal Pictures and Working Title recently confirmed the film will be released on Valentine’s Day 2025.
We’re assuming you’re as ecstatic as us to dive back into Bridget’s painfully awkward but hilarious reality, so read on to find out everything you need to know about Bridget Jones 4…
Are they making a fourth Bridget Jones movie?
Yes! As mentioned, Helen, who penned all four Bridget Jones books and co-wrote the screenplays for all three Bridget Jones films, confirmed she was working on a fourth Bridget Jones movie, which will be based on her book Mad About the Boy, back in 2022.
“Yes I’m working on it and I really hope it will happen. Every film that gets made is a miracle — it’s really difficult to make films happen and to make them good. But I’d love to see it on the screen,” Helen told Radio Times in October 2022.
Then, in April 2024, Universal Pictures and Working Title announced the name of the film — Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy — as well as its release date.
When will Bridget Jones 4 be released?
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy will be released on Valentine’s Day next year: February 14, 2025.
Who will be in Bridget Jones 4?
Universal Pictures and Working Title have confirmed that Renée Zellweger will reprise her role as the titular character.
They also shared that Hugh Grant — who was noticeably absent from the third Bridget Jones film — will return for the fourth, as will veteran actress and two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson, reprising her Bridget Jones’ Baby role.
Furthermore, Chiwetel Ejiofor — the Oscar nominee of 12 Years a Slave and Love Actually fame — and Leo Woodall — of White Lotus and One Day fame — will star in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy as well.
Australia’s very own Isla Fisher has also been spotted on the set of Bridget Jones 4. It’s rumoured the actress will play a new friend of Bridget’s but so far, nothing’s been confirmed as of yet in regards to Isla’s role.
Is Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones 4?
When the fourth Bridget Jones film was first announced, everyone (us included) assumed that Colin Firth would not appear in it because 1) his name wasn’t on the official cast list and 2) in the book on which the film is based, Colin’s character Mark Darcy is — spoiler alert! — dead.
However, in extremely exciting news, on July 21, 2024, Colin was spotted on set with Renée and on November 13, 2024, Colin appeared in the official Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy trailer.
Why wasn’t Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones’ Baby?
Ultimately, Hugh didn’t appear in the third Bridget Jones film because he believed the script didn’t stay true to his character.
The actor told Bustle in 2016, “When they came to me a few years ago, they had a good central premise, but I didn’t think the script completely worked.
“So I worked with them on it for some time, almost a year, I think, and I could never make the second half of the film work, as far as I was concerned, especially for my character. So in the end we sort of ran out of time, and I said, ‘I think you should make it with someone else.’”
Is there a fourth Bridget Jones book?
The short answer, yes.
The long answer is that Bridget Jones started as a fictitious column — written by Helen Fielding — in the British newspaper The Independent in the mid-1990s.
In 1996, Helen released the first novelisation of the column and called it Bridget Jones’s Diary. The sequel, Edge of Reason, was released in 1999. The first two Bridget Jones films are based on these novels.
Then in 2013, Helen released a third novel called Mad About You, which is set 14 years after the events of the second novel. However, the third film Bridget Jones’ Baby is not based on this book.
Instead, Bridget Jones’s Baby is loosely based on Helen’s fourth book, Bridget Jones’s Baby: The Diaries, which is set in between the events of the second and fourth books.
We say loosely as — spoiler alert! — in the book, Bridget isn’t sure whether Mark Darcy (played by Colin Firth in the films) or Daniel Cleaver (played by Hugh Grant in the films) is the father of her baby whereas in the movie, Bridget isn’t sure whether Mark or the entirely new character Jack Qwant (played by Patrick Dempsey) is the father, and Daniel has been assumed dead after a plane crash — a plot point that’s not in the book at all.
As we mentioned earlier, the fourth Bridget Jones movie will be based on Mad About You. The book details Bridget’s life as a 50-year-old — spoiler alert! — widow.
Where can I watch Bridget Jones in Australia?
All three Bridget Jones films — Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason and Bridget Jones’ Baby — are currently available on Paramount Plus, while the first and third films are currently available on BINGE.
Stream Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason and Bridget Jones’ Baby on Paramount+ FREE for seven days. Subscribe here.
Stream Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bridget Jones’ Baby now on BINGE with a seven-day free trial. Subscribe here.
