Bridget Jones's Baby

Bridget Jones's Baby is a 2016 romantic comedy film directed by Sharon Maguire and written by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Emma Thompson, based on the fictional columns by Fielding. It is the third film in the franchise and a sequel to 2004 film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. The film stars Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones, who after becoming pregnant is unsure if Mark Darcy (Colin Firth, also reprising his role) or Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey) is the father. The film marked Zellweger's return to the screen after a six year hiatus.

Filming began on 2 October 2015 in London. The film was released theatrically on 16 September 2016 in the United Kingdom and United States and on 5 October in France. It received generally positive reviews and grossed over $211 million worldwide.

Plot
On her forty-third birthday, Bridget Jones attends the funeral of Daniel Cleaver, presumed dead after a plane crash. She sees her ex Mark Darcy with his new wife Camilla. 

Bridget now works as a television producer and is close friends with anchor Miranda. After spending the night of her birthday alone, Bridget embraces her single life, accepting Miranda's offer to go to a music festival where she meets a man called Jack. Later that evening a drunk Bridget crawls into a yurt she thinks belongs to her and Miranda, but actually belongs to Jack. Despite the surprise, Jack invites her to stay and the two have a one-night stand. In the morning, finding the bed empty, Bridget leaves, unaware Jack is out getting breakfast for both of them.

Returning home, Bridget goes to the christening of Jude's youngest child, where she is the godmother and Mark has been asked to be the godfather at the last minute. Mark tells her that he and his wife are divorcing and Camilla was only at the funeral for moral support. Realising they are still in love, Bridget and Mark spend the night together. Mark says he is travelling for work early the next day, so Bridget exits before he wakes up, leaving behind a note telling him that reconnecting with him is too painful.

A few weeks later, Bridget realises she is pregnant. She decides that she wants to keep the baby despite being single, as it might be her last chance to have a child. After a visit to the clinic of Dr. Rawling, she realises that the father could be Mark or Jack. She is unable to contact Jack until Miranda spots him on an TV ad and they realise he is Jack Qwant, a billionaire inventor of a dating website. 

Miranda conspires with Bridget to have Jack as a guest on their news show so that they can take DNA samples to work out if Jack is the father. Although Bridget tries to stay incognito, Jack recognises her and asks her why she left after their night together. She apologises and decides to tell him that she is pregnant and that he is the father, without mentioning Mark. Initially taken aback at the responsibility of having a child with a stranger, Jack throws himself into the role of being a father. Bridget also tells Mark the news who is so thrilled at the prospect that she cannot find the courage to tell him about Jack. Dr Rawlings tries to administer a DNA test, but Bridget decides not to go ahead with it while her child is still in the womb as she is terrified by the risk of miscarriage.

Bridget invites Jack to a work event, and is startled when Mark shows up as well. The two men meet, and the three go out to dinner, where Bridget finally admits that she is unsure who the father is. Although disappointed, Jack takes the news well, but Mark is upset and walks out though he eventually becomes supportive as well. Mark and Jack eventually become jealous of each other and when Jack implies that he and Bridget had sex without condoms Mark leaves and ignores Bridget's calls. Jack asks her to move in with him, but he eventually confesses to Bridget what he told Mark. Upset, Bridget rushes to talk to Mark, but sees his wife arriving at his house, so she walks away.

Nine months into her pregnancy Bridget finds herself locked out in the rain. Mark arrives and breaks into the flat for her. After Bridget asks him about his wife at his flat, he informs her that she was there to pick up the last of her things. Just as they are about to kiss, Bridget's water breaks. When his phone rings for work, Mark throws it out the window, which, although romantic, leaves them without a means to call help. They eventually make it to the hospital with some help from Jack. Later Jack apologises to Mark for his behaviour. Bridget gives birth to a boy, and her friends and parents come to visit them. Rawlings takes Mark and Jack away to perform the DNA test, and they genuinely wish each other luck.

A year later, Bridget is at church for her wedding to Mark. Jack Qwant attends as a guest and holds onto Bridget and Mark's son William. 

Later a newspaper lying on a bench reveals that Daniel Cleaver has been found alive.

Cast

Production
In July 2009, Variety announced that a third installment of the Bridget Jones films was in the early stages of development. Working Title Films confirmed that it would not be based on Helen Fielding's third Bridget Jones novel, but instead would be based on the columns she wrote for The Independent in 2005. On 1 March 2011, it was reported that both Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth were interested in reprising their roles. In July 2011, Paul Feig was in final talks to direct the film based on the script by author Fielding. On 11 August 2011, Universal Studios and Working Title greenlit the third film. On 4 October 2011, Deadline reported that Feig had exited the project due to creative differences with Working Title, and Feig had also worked on the recent draft of the script. Production was slated to begin in January 2012 with the returning cast including Zellweger, Firth, and Hugh Grant. On 30 November 2011, Peter Cattaneo came on board to direct the sequel, newly titled "Bridget Jones's Baby" from a script by Fielding, Feig, and David Nicholls. Producers on board were Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title, along with Jonathan Cavendish of Little Bird. The production was delayed due to creative differences between the script of the film and actors, especially Grant as he disliked the script and reportedly Grant had left the project, though this was denied by producer Bevan. However, the producer confirmed that they were working on the script and the film would be made as planned.

In April 2013, Firth spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times, stating "unfortunately, it might be a bit of a long wait", and he said he "wouldn't say that it's completely dead in the water, but the way it's going, you might be seeing Bridget Jones's granddaughter's story being told by the time we get there." In an interview on 10 October 2014, Grant mentioned an existing script for a sequel, though he also expressed his dislike for it, and stated that he would not star in the third film. Later in the next week, producers hired Emma Thompson to rewrite the original script written by Fielding and Nicholls.

On 25 June 2015, it was reported that final negotiations for the film were going on and Sharon Maguire, director of the first film would return to direct the third film. Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent were also in talks to return for the third film to join the cast. On 9 September 2015, Patrick Dempsey joined the cast of the film.

Filming
 
Filming for a short period began in July 2015 in Dublin, where the first scenes for the film were shot at Ed Sheeran's concert at Croke Park. Official principal photography with the actual cast began on 2 October 2015 in London.

The Television Studio interior scenes, the Hospital Ward interiors and various other scenes were shot on Stages 5 and 6 at West London Film Studios.

On 13 October 2015, shooting was taking place at Borough Market, and later in October in Windsor Great Park, at Rosy Bottom. According to the Daily Mail, filming took place at a church in Oxfordshire in October; other sources mention filming at St Lawrence's Church, West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.

Filming wrapped up on 27 November 2015. Reshoots took place for one week starting 8 January 2016.

Music

Release

In October 2015, Bridget Jones's Baby was set for a 16 September 2016 release.
On 23 March the first trailer was released. Like the previous two films, the movie received an R rating in the United States. Zellweger's physical appearance in the trailer for the film has rekindled a debate about the possibility that Zellweger had plastic surgery, which began in 2014 when she re-emerged from a long hiatus. An editorial focused on the trailer for the film by Variety critic Owen Gleiberman titled "Renee Zellweger: If She No Longer Looks Like Herself, Has She Become a Different Actress?" prompted a response from Zellweger, who called the scrutiny over her appearance "sexist" and attributing her difference in appearance solely to "ageing," and wrote an open essay explaining her response in the weeks before the film's release.

Reception

Box office
Bridget Jones's Baby grossed $212 million worldwide, including $24.1 million in the United States and Canada and $60 million in the United Kingdom, against a budget of $35 million.

The film was released in North America on 16 September 2016 and was projected to gross $12–16 million in its opening weekend from 2,927 theaters. It made $364,000 from its Thursday night previews and $3 million on its first day. In total, the film made $8.2 million in its opening weekend, falling below projections and scoring the lowest opening of the series.

Internationally, where Universal Pictures handled most of the releases, the film fared better and especially in the UK where the previous two installments registered the biggest grossers. It debuted day-and-date in conjuncture with its North American release in 41 countries, including big markets like the UK and Ireland, Russia, Australia, Mexico and Spain in its opening weekend. The film will be released in a total of 62 countries. It scored the biggest opening day in the franchise in the UK, the Netherlands and Latin America including Mexico, Panama and Peru, and had number-one opening days in the UK, Australia, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa and Ukraine. Through Sunday, 18 September, it had an opening weekend of $29.9 million from 39 markets and debuted at number one in 24 of them. It was in second place at the box office, behind A Chinese Odyssey Part Three. It topped the international box office in its second weekend, earning $21.9 million from 47 markets. It recorded the biggest debut in the franchise and had number-one openings in certain markets like Australia ($4.2 million), the Netherlands ($1.9 million), Spain ($1.7 million), Iceland and New Zealand and bowed at second place in France ($3.7 million) and Russia ($1.4 million).

In the United Kingdom and Ireland – the biggest market for the first two films – the film opened on Friday, 16 September, and recorded the biggest comedy/romantic comedy opening day ever, as well as the biggest Working Title and September opening of all time with $4 million at 641 theaters. It went on to score a record breaking £8.11 million ($10.5 million) opening and dominated 57% of the total market share which is the biggest romantic comedy opening weekend ever in the UK; the biggest opening weekend ever for Working Title; and the biggest September launch weekend of all time. Excluding previews, the film has the seventh biggest debut of the year. The film fell just 20% in its second weekend to £6.4 million ($8.3 million) and continued to lead the box office for the third consecutive weekend, despite the influx of a row of competitions. After three straight wins, it was surpassed by The Girl on the Train in its fourth weekend. It broke a number of records including the fastest romantic comedy to earn £30 million, doing so on its seventeenth day (the first film took 31 days and the second film took 24 days). It has so far grossed a total of $54 million there becoming the biggest market outside of North America like its predecessors. Adjusted for inflation it is the lowest-grossing film behind both the films (£73.1 million and £57.8 million respectively).

After 31 days of playing in theaters, the film became the biggest film in the franchise in the United Kingdom with £42.24 million, surpassing the first film's final gross of £42 million. It currently sits as the third biggest film of 2016 behind Finding Dory (£42.25 million) and The Jungle Book (£46.1 million). In Netherlands, it is the highest-grossing Working Title picture of all time with $8.1 million — passing Notting Hill (1999), which held the record for 17 years.

Critical response
Bridget Jones's Baby received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 78%, based on 207 reviews, with an average rating of 6.33/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Bridget Jones's Baby might be late on arrival, but fans of the series should still find its third installment a bouncing bundle of joy." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a score 59 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Accolades

References

External links
 
 
 

Category:Bridget Jones
Category:2010s romantic comedy films
Category:2010s sequel films
Category:2016 films
Category:American films
Category:American romantic comedy films
Category:American sequel films
Category:British films
Category:British romantic comedy films
Category:British sequel films
Category:English-language films
Category:Films directed by Sharon Maguire
Category:Films produced by Eric Fellner
Category:Films produced by Tim Bevan
Category:Films set in London
Category:Films shot in Berkshire
Category:Films shot in Buckinghamshire
Category:Films shot in London
Category:Films shot in the Republic of Ireland
Category:French films
Category:French romantic comedy films
Category:French sequel films
Category:Miramax films
Category:Perfect World Pictures films
Category:Pregnancy films
Category:Films with screenplays by Emma Thompson
Category:Films scored by Craig Armstrong (composer)
Category:StudioCanal films
Category:Universal Pictures films
Category:Working Title Films films