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Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is a 2025 romantic comedy film directed by Michael Morris from a screenplay by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan. It is the fourth in the Bridget Jones film series, and is based on the 2013 novel by Fielding. Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth reprise their roles from the previous films, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall joining the cast.
In the film, Bridget Jones, now a widowed single mother, navigates the challenges of parenthood, work, and modern dating with the support of her friends, family, and former partner, Daniel Cleaver. As she re-enters the dating world, she finds herself pursued by a younger man while also forming an unexpected connection with her son's science teacher.
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy was released in cinemas in France on 12 February 2025 by StudioCanal and in the United Kingdom on 13 February by Universal Pictures. In the United States, the film was released on Peacock on 13 February. It received positive reviews from critics and grossed $140 million against a budget of $50 million. It was nominated for Outstanding Television Movie at the 77th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards and won Best Movie Made for Television at the 31st Critics' Choice Awards.
Contents
Plot
Bridget Jones, now the mother of school-aged Billy and Mabel, prepares to go out for the first time in a long time. While Daniel Cleaver babysits her children, Bridget attends the celebration of life held for her late husband, Mark Darcy, who was killed four years earlier while on a humanitarian mission in Sudan. She spends the torturous evening accepting condolences and being pressured to start dating again.
Billy and Mabel are still awake when Bridget arrives home. Mabel observes a white owl that sits outside their window every night. Bridget reminisces about Mark singing to the children, and imagines seeing him do so. She then contemplates the often-contradictory advice and suggestions her friends and family offer.
Bridget recalls her father Colin's dying wish that she live life fully. Coupling this with Dr Rawlings's suggestion to return to work, Bridget is motivated to make a fresh start. After Miranda calls for suggestions on a live interview for her women's program, Bridget contacts Richard and again becomes a show producer.
Just as Bridget decides to re-enter the dating world, she meets 29-year-old park ranger Roxster, who pursues her on Tinder, and, after days of texting, they arrange a date. Bridget's friends offer advice before they go out. Bridget and Roxster's relationship evolves over the summer, with Mabel quickly labelling him as their "new daddy". Billy, still struggling to cope with his father's death, is less enthusiastic.
Bridget is invited to Billy's class to discuss her job as a television producer. To demonstrate, she chooses a girl to act as producer, while she assumes the role as the presenter and interviews science teacher Scott Walliker. A seemingly simple explanation about an insect's life cycle turns more serious as Bridget asks questions about whether all living creatures have souls.
At a birthday party for Bridget's colleague, Roxster makes a grand entrance. As they enjoy the evening, Roxster makes an offhand comment about wishing for a time machine. The next morning, Bridget awakens to find him gone. He subsequently ghosts her.
Daniel, hospitalised due to a heart scare, contacts Bridget, feeling she is the only person who might care about him. He reflects on how alone he is, mentioning how he has not seen his teenage son for over a decade. Bridget, who deeply misses her deceased father, encourages Daniel to see his son.
Cast
In addition, UK broadcast journalists Gillian Joseph, Gamal Fahnbulleh, Daniel Heard and Maryam Moshiri have cameo appearances as themselves, in a montage of news reports in the film.
Production
In October 2022, novelist Helen Fielding responded to reports about a fourth film in the Bridget Jones film series, telling the Radio Times that a sequel to Bridget Jones's Baby (2016) was in the works. In April 2024, a fourth film in the film series based on Fielding's third book in the Bridget Jones series, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (2013), was confirmed, with Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson set to be reprise their roles from previous instalments, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall joining the cast. It was also reported that Michael Morris would direct the film from a script by Fielding with further contributions from Abi Morgan and Dan Mazer, with Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Jo Wallett producing under the Working Title Films banner. As with Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) and Bridget Jones's Baby (2016), Miramax was confirmed to co-finance the film.
In May 2024, Isla Fisher, Josette Simon, Nico Parker, and Leila Farzad joined the cast of the film, with Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Sarah Solemani, Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson, James Callis and Celia Imrie reprising their roles from the previous films. Principal photography began on 10 May 2024 at the Sky Studios Elstree in London and wrapped on 8 August.
Soundtrack
The score for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy was composed by American pianist Dustin O'Halloran. His original music was released as the film's official soundtrack on 14 February 2025 through Back Lot Music, a division of Universal Studios Music. The same day, Universal Music Recordings issued Bridget Jones's Diary: The Mixtape, a compilation of selected songs from across the Bridget Jones film franchise that was produced in collaboration with the franchise's music executive producer, Nick Angel. Apart from songs from the first three Bridget Jones films, a selection of songs from Mad About the Boy were also featured, including recordings from Jessie Ware, Al Green, Raye, and Dinah Washington as well as Olivia Dean's original song "It Isn't Perfect But It Might Be", which plays over the film's ending credits and served as the soundtrack's lead single. The song has reached number 36 on the UK Singles Chart, while the soundtrack peaked at number 64 on the UK Albums Chart.
Release
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy began its international rollout on 12 February 2025 in countries such as Belgium, France and Switzerland, with StudioCanal distributing the film in France. On 13 February, the film was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Universal Pictures and in the United States on the streaming service Peacock.
Home media
The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on 13 May 2025 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Reception
Box office
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy made $35.5 million from 71 countries on its international opening weekend, with the largest markets being the United Kingdom and Ireland ($14.8 million), Australia ($3.3 million), and France ($3.3 million). By its second weekend, the film had a global gross of $67.6 million, including $34.5 million in the UK, $6 million in Australia, $4.2 million in Poland, $3.3 million in the Netherlands, and $1.9 million in Spain.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 129 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "A bittersweet romp about new beginnings with another sparkling turn by Renée Zellweger, Mad About the Boy gracefully closes the book on Bridget Jones' diary." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.