The latest Bridget Jones movie, Mad About the Boy, has been breaking box office records, drawing positive reviews, and getting a great audience response. However, there's bizarrely one movie in the four-movie franchise that critics hate — Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (the one where Bridget dances in the ocean after accidentally taking some illegal substances!).

The second movie, released in 2004, has a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of just 27%! It looks like a complete anomaly when you see the RT critic scores for the other three films: Bridget Jones's Diary 79%, Bridget Jones’s Baby 78% and Mad About The Boy 86%.

Yes, the current movie has the best critics score of the whole franchise and is the only one to top 80%. If you combine its critic and audience score you get an overall score of 160, tying it with the original film as the most well-loved film in the series.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason has a perfectly respectable 60% audience score, lower than the other films but not bad, however, the 27% critics score is just a shocker! So why the critical loathing? Well, sequels are never easy and the original movie was in many ways the ultimate rom-com. Renée Zellweger nailed Bridget, despite the fears of some British fans that the American star wouldn’t be able to capture either Bridget's accent or her unique attitude to life. However, The Edge of Reason was a letdown for many. Will Self in London’s Evening Standard panned the movie, declaring: "There is something so plangently patronizing about the tone of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, and it wasn't there in the first film. Maybe it's because this is essentially a retread, with the only difference being that Bridget has Darcy at the beginning, then loses him, then gets him back."

The New York Times review, hidden behind a paywall, is especially scathing, while in a slightly more positive review, The Guardian said: "Entertaining stuff, mostly, but Hugh Grant is absent for ages and ages, and without him it's just not the same.”

All the Bridget Jones movies are hugely enjoyable and if you like one you’re bound to like all of them. Mad About the Boy has actually broken the UK box-office rom-com record, making £11.8 million in its first four days of release. Ironically what was the movie that held the record previously? Yep, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.! Whatever the critics might think, fans still love Bridget.

Mad About the Boy is available on Peacock to stream now in the US, while it’s out in cinemas now in the UK.

Audiences are getting the chance to see Bridget Jones hopefully find her next great love, as the fourth movie in the rom-com franchise starring Renée Zellweger is here. But how can you watch Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy? That answer can differ greatly depending on where you are.

Written by Helen Fielding, the Bridget Jones franchise began with Bridget Jones’s Diary back in 2001, as the titular Brit tracks her pursuit of love over the course of a year in her diary. Sequels came in 2004 with Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and 2016 with Bridget Jones’s Baby. Now, nine years later, we’re getting what is expected to be the final chapter in Bridget Jones’s love life.

Get everything you need to know about how to watch Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy directly below.

How to watch Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy in movie theaters

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is now playing in movie theaters in the UK, but not in the US. UK fans need to go out to their local cinema to watch the movie. However, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is a streaming exclusive in the US, which we’ll provide more details on below.

UK cinemagoers can check for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy movie times online. Or, if you are a frequenter of a particular movie theater chain, movie theater subscriptions and membership programs cannot only keep you up to date with what’s playing at your favorite location, but they also give you a range of perks, including deals on tickets and concessions.

How to stream Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is now streaming exclusively on Peacock in the US. The only way for US viewers to watch the rom-com is to have a Peacock subscription. Though if you want to sign up for Peacock to watch the movie, the streamer is currently offering a limited-time deal to subscribe for a 60% discount.

For those outside of the US, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is not streaming or available via digital on-demand at this time.

What else to know about Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Here is the synopsis for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, as written by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan:

“Bridget Jones navigates life as a widow and single mum with the help of her family, friends, and former lover, Daniel. Back to work and on the apps, she's pursued by a younger man and maybe — just maybe — her son's science teacher.”

Zellweger reprises one of her most iconic roles for the fourth time and is joined by the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Isla Fisher, as well as Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. Michael Morris directs the movie.

You can read the official WTW Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy review to get our thoughts on the movie. As far as overall critical sentiment to the sequel, the movie has a “Fresh” rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes as of February 13.

Watch the trailer for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy right here:

In Britain, it's Bridget Jones Day as the fourth movie, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, hits cinemas nationwide.

To be clear to American readers, it's not actually a UK national holiday (perhaps it should be? free big pants for all?), but there is a genuine sense of excitement about seeing Renée Zellweger's chardonnay-loving heroine back on the big screen alongside Hugh Grant as devilish Daniel Cleaver. My local cinema is screening it 19 times in one day!

So imagine how stunned I was to discover the movie isn't being released in US theaters. Instead, it's gone straight to streaming on Peacock. From a UK perspective, this is a mad decision!

The movie looks set to be a massive box office hit with advance tickets selling faster than Barbie! Sure it won't beat Barbie overall but it's almost certain now to be a success. It looks even more crazy to not give it an American theatrical release when you think it's Valentine's weekend. It's also been receiving largely positive reviews, in our Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy review we described it as a "welcome return" while in a glowing review, The Times says "our national treasure grows up".

So, why isn't Bridget Jones being released theatrically in the US?

Money. The movie has gone straight to streaming in America simply because the makers don't believe it will make enough loot. While this seems incredible from a UK perspective, a closer look at the box office figures for the third movie, Bridget Jones's Baby (2016), highlights why they took the decision. The film made just $8 million in its opening weekend despite being released widely across America. Out of its total $212 million box office gross, only $24 million of that came from the US and Canada.

Talking about the decision to not give it a US theatrical release, Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding told Variety: "You know what I'm a realist. I've been sort of parenting this brand for a long time now and I understand the changing economics of the movie industry and the different markets. So I completely respect what Universal decided to do. They know what they're doing. People watch 'Bridget' — all three movies are still streaming — so they will watch this one at home. It's a good movie to watch on the sofa, I think."

Unfortunately, it seems not as many people go to cinemas nowadays to watch rom-coms. Is this because there are fewer good rom-coms? Or does the fact that a rom-com doesn’t need to be enjoyed on a big screen mean people just wait to stream it? It seems sad that American fans, though, aren't getting the chance to experience Bridget Jones this weekend. Are you really taking your date out to watch Captain America: Brave New World? Do you actually want a second date? Perhaps stream Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy on Peacock instead. It's time America fell in love with our Bridget again.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is available to stream in the US now via Peacock. UK fans can enjoy it at the cinema.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, her name was synonymous with 30-something single women who were looking for love, up against the attitudes of their families and friends and swigged Chardonnay to stave off loneliness. Big pants came into it as well. Now Bridget Jones is back, older for sure, but wiser? And, more to the point, is she still the ultimate standard bearer for singletons?

In the fourth film to bear her name, and still based on the novels of Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy finds her in her fifties with two children and adjusting to life after the sudden loss of her husband Mark Darcy. It takes time, but everybody around her — friends, family, gynecologist et al — is pushing her to move forward. Cue a friend who signs her up for a dating app, and an attractive park ranger in his late 20s who is quickly smitten. With her glow back and confidence sky high, the seemingly perfect mums at the kids' school are far less daunting and life is fun. Until he does a runner. Left high and dry, she's better at getting back on her feet and finds, once again, that what she’s been looking for is right under her nose.

Like its predecessors, the film has been making headlines, but for different reasons.

This time it's the age-difference romance between 50-something Bridget (Renee Zellweger, of course) and sub-30 Rockster (Prime Target’s Leo Woodall). It’s been a favorite theme for filmmakers of late, from the dewy-eyed The Idea Of You to the manipulative Babygirl, in what's felt like an attempt to change attitudes. That's not what this film has in mind. The approach is conventional and predictable: he's incredibly attractive, they have a wonderful time together until he gets cold feet about her age and ghosts her. And, when he comes back, she's moved on because she knows it’ll never work. Lesson? It’s fun while it lasts, but younger men never stick around. It's borderline preachy and gives the film a very dated feel.

It's not the only aspect past its sell-by date. Bridget's friends and colleagues refer to Rockster as her "toyboy", a term that belongs in her first outing, not 2025. The dating app she’s signed up for is Tinder but, let’s face it, swiping left and right is kinda yesterday. She still lives in the cozy, affluent middle-class London of the 1990s, even though this is set in the now. Money is never short, her house is beautiful — Hampstead Heath is literally at the end of the road — and the children's idyllic school is full of little Tarquins and Jocastas, with judgemental, entitled parents to match.

Thankfully, Bridget does upset the status quo with her customary energy, wearing a PJ top when she takes the children to school and allowing them to make a mess in the house. She's the kind of mum that kids would adore.

But, as well as looking to the future, the film needs to keep its feet firmly in the past, with returning characters and references to memorable scenes from previous installments. Fans of the series know where they are with both the films and books and don't want anything to change, so every important box is ticked. Bridget, for instance, still has that strange habit of running out into the snow in a flimsy dress and never getting cold. And the big pants put in an appearance, visually and verbally (no prizes for guessing who mentions them!).

Zellweger has made Bridget her own and all the scatty, often naïve, appeal is intact, coupled with a more recently-acquired maturity, but she’s in danger right from the start of being completely upstaged. Basking in the glow of his current renaissance, Hugh Grant bookends the action and gets proceedings off to a great start as a thoroughly unsuitable babysitter, teaching her children things they shouldn’t really know at their tender age. And, even though his appearance towards the end comes dangerously close to schmaltz, his smile and naughty twinkle come to the rescue.

The scene-stealing doesn't stop there. Emma Thompson returns for a couple of scenes as Bridget's go-to for any medical issues and, more importantly, life advice. It goes without saying that she delivers, especially when it comes to laughs. Among the newbies is Leila Farzad, as the queen of the perfect "n" pushy mums who looks down her surgically enhanced nose at Bridget’s lack of makeup when taking the children to school. And, if she’d been given enough screen time, Joanna Scanlan’s make-up artist, Cathy, would have walked away with her scenes. She hardly gets a look-in and it’s such a waste.

For all the laughs and the familiarity, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy sags in the middle, spending too long on Bridget and Rockster’s romance and then frantically rushing towards a wholly predictable conclusion. Whether this is a fond farewell to Miss Jones remains to be seen, but there’s a definite air of finality about the film, as well as the sense that she’s at last, found the happy ending that she and audiences have always wished for. After everything she goes through this time, you can’t deny she deserves it.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is released in UK cinemas on February 13 and in the US on 13 February on Peacock Premium.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy star Hugh Grant has plenty of good things to say about the forthcoming fourth movie which sees 

In an interview with People, Wonka star Hugh Grant (who appeared in the first two Bridget Jones flicks) was keen to highlight that the movie will have a sense of humor and warmth.

"It is very moving as well as funny", Hugh Grant said. "It's partly based on Helen Fielding's experiences of bringing up two children by herself after her husband died. And so Bridget is bringing up two kids and wondering whether she should ever go back to dating. It's a very good script". 

This comes shortly after we got some big Bridget Jones 4 casting news. Leo Woodall (of the Netflix hit, One Day) is rumored to be playing a younger love interest for Bridget Jones (who will once again be played by Renée Zellweger).

In addition, Chiwetel Ejiofor is set to star in an as-yet-unconfirmed role, and Emma Thompson is also reprising the role of Dr. Rawlings. 

Beyond the above details, we don't know too much more about Bridget Jones: Mad About The Body beyond the fact we expect it to be based on Fielding's third Bridget Jones book of the same name and the movie's reportedly set eight years after the third installment, Bridget Jones's Baby, which was released back in 2016. 

As Grant teased, that title follows 51-year-old Bridget Jones as she navigates parenting. The book is set a few years after the sudden death of Mark Darcy (who was killed by a landmine in Sudan), and sees the single mother of two young children trying to navigate the dating world all over again. Of course, this being a Bridget Jones story, chaos and comedy are never far away. 

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is currently expected to hit US theaters and on Peacock on February 14, 2025. A UK release date has not been given at the time of writing. 

For more info on all the latest releases, check out our guide to the new movies still to be released this year. Outside of the Bridget Jones universe, Hugh Grant can soon be seen in Jerry Seinfeld's Netflix comedy, Unfrosted as Tony the Tiger. 

Bridget Jones returns for a fourth movie, titled Mad About The Boy, and further casting has been announced including a familiar face from Netflix's One Day. 

Leo Woodall, who recently played the leading role of Dexter Mayhew in the hit TV series, is rumoured to be playing Bridget's younger love interest in the new movie, though the producers are remaining tight-lipped about what the plot details will be.

He's not the only new exciting addition to the cast either, with 12 Years a Slave star Chiwetel Ejiofor also on the cast list, in an as yet unconfirmed role. Meanwhile, Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, and Emma Thompson are all back to reprise their iconic roles.

They'll be starring as the titular Bridget Jones, the dashing Daniel Cleaver and despairing obstetrician Dr. Rawlings, respectively, and they're all back for more in the upcoming installment.

Not much is known about the latest movie yet, but we do know it is based on the best-selling novel by Helen Fielding called "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" which was released back in 2013. The movie will follow on from the 2016 adaptation Bridget Jones' Baby.

A source told The Mail Online earlier this year: "Bridget is back and is about to take over London. Filming is being mapped out already and all of the pre-production is in place. 

"There was some uncertainty about whether it would get off the ground, but the movie is coming. Renee is excited about bringing Bridget back. She adores the character so much. Bridget Jones fever is expected to sweep across London this spring."

In the book, Bridget is now a 51-year-old single mother to two children, Billy and Mabel who are seven and five, and is a widow after the sudden death of Mark Darcy (played by Colin Firth), who was killed by a landmine in Sudan. 

The storyline picks up a few years after Mark's death, and we find Bridget putting herself out into the dating world once more. However, it is not yet known how closely the movie will adapt the book.

Reports suggest the movie could be released in the US on Valentine's Day 2025, but no UK release has been confirmed just yet.

Almost a decade after we last saw them together on our screens, Renée Zellweger and Hugh Grant are both officially reprising their roles in Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, the fourth Bridget Jones movie which is once again based on a best-selling novel by Helen Fielding. 

Fans of the movie franchise will remember that 2001 introduced us to Bridget in all her chaotic and lovable glory in Bridget Jones's Diary, then followed Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason shortly afterward in 2004. We then had a wait until 2016 for Bridget Jones's Baby, which saw Bridget find herself pregnant and unsure who the father is following a break up with Mark. 

Spoiler alert — Bridget and Mark marry at the end of the third movie giving fans the fairytale ending they always wished for. However, for those of you who haven't read "Mad About the Boy you are in for a bit of a shock because there is a huge Mr Darcy-shaped twist in this next installment. 

Here is everything you need to know about Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy...

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy release date 

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy will be released in the UK and on Peacock in the US on Thursday, February 13, 2025 - just in time for Valentine's Day. 

The movie is also due for release on Thursday, February 13 in Australia. 

Is there a trailer for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy?

Yes, and it is every bit as brilliant as you might imagine. It has a surprise appearance from Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, but sadly he is just a figment of Bridget's imagination as she heads to yet another dinner party alone.

However, there is new romance on the cards for Bridget... hurrah! 

You can watch the full trailer below...

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy plot 

The fourth film is once again based on the novels of Helen Fielding and this latest installment finds Bridget in her fifties with two children and adjusting to life after the sudden loss of her husband Mark Darcy who was killed four years ago while on a humanitarian mission in the Sudan.

It takes time, but everybody around her — friends, family, gynecologist et al — is pushing her to move forward. It isn't long before a friend signs Bridget up for a dating app, and she meets a dreamy and enthusiastic park ranger in his late 20s who is quickly smitten - enter Leo Woodall's Roxter!

With Bridget's glow back and confidence sky high, the seemingly perfect mums at the kids' school are far less daunting and life is fun. Until Roxter does a runner. Left high and dry, she's better at getting back on her feet and finds, once again, that what she’s been looking for is right under her nose. Will Bridget get the happy ever after she deserves?

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy cast 

Of course, no Bridget Jones movie would be complete without, well, Bridget! Renee Zellweger is back, along with Hugh Grant as the ever-charming Daniel Cleaver and Colin Firth will feature as the late Mark Darcy - a figment of Bridget's imagination.

Hugh's return will be a welcome surprise to fans after he didn't appear in Bridget Jones’s Baby. In the third movie, Daniel is thought to have been killed in a plane crash, resulting in a comical funeral where Bridget is forced to give a eulogy. However, in the final moments of the film, a newspaper headline reveals that he was found alive after all. 

The rest of the cast includes One Day and Prime Target star Leo Woodall, who plays Bridget's Tinder match Roxster, and who at 29 is a little younger than her 51 years, while Bafta winner Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Mr. Wallakerm a teacher who Bridget encounters on the school run and a rain-soaked class trip.

Emma Thompson is also reprising her scene-stealing role of Dr. Rawlings, Shirley Henderson and Sally Phillips are back as Bridget's friends Jude and Shazzer and Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones are back as Bridget's parents, Colin and Pamela Jones.

New cast members include Leila Farzad (The Marvels, I Hate Suzie, The Decameron) as Perfect Nicolette, a mother at Bridget’s children’s school; Josette Simon (Wonder Woman, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, The Crow) as Bridget’s new colleague Talitha; and Nico Parker (The Last of Us, Dumbo, upcoming How to Train Your Dragon) as Bridget’s nanny, Chloe.  

Other cast for the movie include:

• Casper Knopf as Billy
• Mila Jankovic as Mabel
• Isla Fisher as Rebecca
• Sarah Solemani as Miranda
• James Callis as Tom
• Celia Imrie as Una Alconbury

Behind the scenes and more on Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy

Based on the novel by Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Michael Morris (To Leslie, Better Call Saul), from a screenplay by BAFTA nominee Helen Fielding, Oscar^® nominee Dan Mazer (I Give it A Year, Bridget Jones's Baby), and Emmy winner Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Eric).

The film is produced for Working Title by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, whose credits, among many others, include Notting Hill, Fargo, Love Actually, Ticket to Paradise, Les Misérables and The Substance. Working Title films have earned 14 Academy Awards^® and six Best Picture nominations.

The film is also produced by Jo Wallett (Wicked Little Letters, Catherine Called Birdy, Emma). The film is executive produced by Helen Fielding and Renée Zellweger. Working Title has produced all the Bridget Jones films.