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‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ Mixes Up The Traditional Formula

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 01:58 PST, Jul 4, 2016

Bridget Jones’s Baby is the upcoming sequel to Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and the third film in the Bridget Jones franchise. The film will see Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth returning to their roles as Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy.

With a new trailer just released, fans of the Bridget Jones franchise are buzzing with excitement. According to the Independent, the new trailer for Bridget Jones’s Baby puts the spotlight on one of the two newcomers to the franchise: Emma Thompson, who will be playing Bridget Jones’s wonderfully dry yet supportive doctor.

Watch the new trailer here.

Bridget Jones’s Baby was shot in London last year, and it will also add Grey’s Anatomy’s Patrick Dempsey to the already impressive cast. Dempsey will be playing a rich love rival to Marcy Darcy, the suave billionaire Jack Qwant. The film centers on Bridget Jones as she goes on a hunt to discover which of the two desirable matches, Mark or Jack, fathered her unborn child.

The upcoming film plays on several mechanics that were present in the former Bridget Jones films, with Dempsey filling in the gap left by the departure of fan favorite Hugh Grant, who played the persuasive Daniel Cleaver in the two previous films.

Bridget Jones’s Baby had a production so secretive, that even the cast do not know who the father of the child is. Three different endings were filmed so that the ultimate resolution couldn’t possibly be leaked prior to the film’s premiere.

One concern that many fans expressed about the film revolves around Zellweger’s lack of weight gain for the role. Bridget Jones is a relatable character for many people, and her weight was one of the main reasons that many people felt that they could relate to her life story. However, Sharon Maguire, the director of the film, defended Zellweger’s approach to the character, maintaining that Bridget Jones’s slimmed-down figure was reflective of the stage she was at in her life during the events of the film.

“We all really loved the notion that Bridget, 15 years on, had finally reached her ideal weight… somewhere between a UK size 10 or 12… but still hadn’t solved any of her issues about love and loneliness.”

The introduction of Patrick Dempsey’s character to Bridget Jones’s Baby has seen an interesting split between the fans of the franchise. In the previous two films, Colin Firth’s character was a firm favorite amongst the fans, but Dempsey’s introduction has seen some fans change their allegiance. Some fans are loving Patrick Dempsey’s Jack Qwant being thrown into the mix, according to Movie News Guide.

Indeed, the addition of Patrick Dempsey to Bridget Jones’s Baby is a big one, due to the constant rivalry that is usually seen between Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver. The change of formula goes very well with the current state of the main character’s life, having broken up with Mark Darcy. She eventually focused on work, and by doing so, she furthered her career as a successful, albeit clumsy, news reporter. She soon meets Jack, who is completely unlike Mark, which might be the reason she falls hard for him.

The last film in the franchise, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, was released in 2004. The characters and the actors portraying them have naturally aged quite a bit, yet it has been Zellweger’s appearance transformation that has drawn the most criticism from fans.

To her credit, the Bridget Jones’s Baby actress refuses to let negativity affect her mindset, and does her best to shelter herself from public criticism by limiting her exposure to social media.

[Photo by KGC-296/STAR MAX/IPx]

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Renée Zellweger hugh grant Colin Firth patrick dempsey Emma Thompson
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