Renée Zellweger is back in Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy – but the film has suffered a major setback just hours after it was released in cinemas in the UK and around the world
The release of Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy has been rocked by piracy issues that could dent its projected box office haul.
The fourth film in the celebrated Bridget Jones film series was unleashed in time for Valentine’s Day – and scored huge pre-booking ticket sales that put it on a path to match earnings of the billion dollar making fantasy film Barbie in certain territories. The film series, based on the books of British author Helen Fielding, sees Renée Zellweger playing the title character while Colin Firth and Hugh Grant have battled for her affections as devoted husband Mark Darcy and smug businessman Daniel Cleaver respectively.
The trio return for the latest film – with Colin reprising his role in ghost form after Mark was killed off following the events of the third instalment of the movie series. One Day star Leo Woodall and Love Actually actor Chiwetel Ejiofor are added to the mix of men entering Bridget’s orbit in the fourth film that sees her adjusting to life as a widowed single mum.
But a disaster almost as tragic as the death of Mark has also hit the film – as the entire film has leaked online hours after being released in UK cinemas. While the film is on screens in cinemas in the UK and Europe, fans in the USA can already watch it via the streaming service Peacock – but this digital version has already been ripped and uploaded via social media.
A source told The Sun: “It’s a huge blow. Mad About the Boy is going to be massive but there are worries that people just won’t go out to watch it if they can already see it illegally from the comfort of their sofas.” The film has won rave reviews from fans and critics alike – and had been projected to rake in huge sums at the box office.
Earlier in the week, it was revealed that pre-release tickets were outperforming sales of 2023’s smash hit Barbie – which made over $1.4 billion (£1.1 billion) at the global box office. Odeon told Screen Daily that 20 per cent of tickets had been sold for previews of the movie that were screened on Thursday preview day, and a third were sold for Valentine’s Day, which was on Friday – with 70,000 fans booking their tickets in advance.
It was a similar story at Curzon which also saw a 20 per cent boost to ticket sales as fans booked in to watch Bridget back in action after a nine-year absence. Fans have been left saddened by the plot which reveals Colin Firth’s Mark Darcey was killed off – and the actor himself was left devastated when author Helen Fielding told him the news of her plans to axe the character.
Helen told Variety: “Well the truth is, I didn’t ever intend to actually kill Colin. When the book came out, it was the second lead after Syria on BBC News: ‘Mark Darcy is dead!’ I’d had to previously call Colin up and ask if he had someone with him and if he was sitting down, and I told him that I’d killed him.”
The news allegedly didn’t sit well with Colin and Helen recounted him telling her: “You’ve killed the wrong one.” The new film also sees Emma Thompson return as Bridget’s doctor, Doctor Rawlings. Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson and James Callis return as friends Sharon, Jude and Tom – while other returning cast members include Celia Imrie, Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent.
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