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- Read more: BRIAN VINER reviews Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy has already surpassed megahit Barbie in ticket presales, as it finally hits cinemas on Thursday.
The long-awaited sequel sees Renee Zellweger reprise her role as the titular heroine, and sees her adjusting to life as widow following the shock death of her husband Mark Darcy.
Now, it's been revealed that more than 150,000 seats have already been booked in the UK by cinema chain Odeon, with more than half of those sold for Valentine's Day.
It's set to be the most lucrative box office weekend of the year so far, as Marvel blockbuster Captain America: Brave New World is also hitting the big screen.
Bridget's previous outing - Bridget Jones's Baby in 2016 - made £8.1million in its opening weekend, but this fourth film is expected to far surpass that.
Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, made £18.4million in British cinemas from its first weekend in July 2023.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy has already surpassed megahit Barbie in ticket presales, as it finally hits cinemas on Thursday
Figures show that after selling over 150,000 seats, its box office numbers are expecting to top Barbie, which grossed £18.4million in its first weekend in July 2023
Robert Mitchell, of film industry experts Gower Street Analytics, told The Sun: 'We're anticipating it to be one of the biggest titles of the year in the UK, the biggest British film of the year, and the biggest box office for the first half of 2025.'
Eduardo Leal, of Vue cinemas, added: 'Pre-sales are even higher than for blockbusters like Barbie. It is tracking to be the biggest ever Bridget Jones film.'
Odeon boss Suzie Welch went onto say: 'We are eagerly anticipating a fantastic opening weekend. It's lovely to see how excited fans are to welcome Bridget back.'
The film has also been widely praised by critics as the best yet of the film series - as they lauded both leading lady Renee and 'funny' Hugh Grant.
The film is yet again adapted from Helen Fielding's books - the first being Bridget Jones' Diary which was released in 2001. Its sequel The Edge of Reason followed in 2004, and then Bridget Jones's Baby hit cinemas in 2016.
Set in the years after Mark's tragic death, in the film Bridget finds herself in the middle of a battle for her affections between boy toy Roxster, played by Leo Woodall, and Chiwetel Ejiofor's teacher character Mr. Wallaker.
The Daily Mail's Brian Viner gave the film a glowing review with four stars and said it was the best since the original.
He called Renee's acting 'engaging' and praised the portrayal of an age gap relationship.
The film has also been widely praised by critics as the best yet of the film series - as they lauded both leading lady Renee and 'funny' Hugh Grant
He said: 'She's back - and while some people might wish she wasn't, because after all she's not everyone's glass of Chardonnay - she's back with bells on.
'The fourth Bridget Jones film is the best since the 2001 original, and aptly enough is the most grown-up of the quartet, exploring bereavement and grief but never at the expense of wit and charm.
'It explores plenty of other stuff, too, not least romance across a mighty age divide.'
Meanwhile The Telegraph gave the film a whopping five stars also saying it was the 'best film yet' of the series and musing that it was 'a joy to have Bridget back on screens.'
Their film critic Robbie Collin also praised Hugh Grant as he returned as Daniel Cleaver, lauding his 'funny and rascally tone'.
Robbie said of the film: 'Yes, there are corny bits, but what sort of Bridget Jones film would it be if there weren't?
'Like Bridget's own love life, the London-set romantic comedy has been in hibernation for a decade-plus. What an unexpected joy to see both revived in such style.'
The Independent called the film's leading lady 'sensational' as they branded it 'vulnerable, honest and very funny'.
They also praised the handling of the age gap relationship between Bridget and Roxster as well as pointing out Hugh's 'hilarious' additions to the film.
They said: 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, then, is about all things in balance. And that includes having Hugh Grant swan in for a hilarious couple of scenes, but no more.'
The Times also gave four stars praising mostly the chemistry and connection between Hugh and Renee which they say held the film together.
Their chief film critic Kevin Maher said: 'We've watched them grow and evolve, yet stay the same, and yet not, over 24 years.
'Their affection for each other is the film's greatest strength, because it dovetails neatly into its most poignant theme: time devours all. But with gags.'
The Guardian however was less impressed, giving the film just two stars and saying the series had 'run out of steam'.
They also said there was no chemistry between Renee and either of her leading men but did praise Hugh's humour and Emma Thompson's scenes.
They said: 'Zellweger looks as if she's thinking about something else and Woodall has none of the charm and believable humanity he has showed us before – the scenes here on Hampstead Heath are an uneasy, inadvertent echo of his romantic One Day moments on Primrose Hill.'
They brutally added: 'Fans might prefer to remember the previous three films.'
The Evening Standard followed suit with two stars saying Bridget should 'go into retirement now.
Renee returns to her most famous role in the film, this time playing Bridget in her fifties and a single mother of two following the death of her husband Mark Darcy (seen with younger love interest Leo Woodall)
Their critic wrote: 'Bridget Jones's Diary started out as a mid-90s newspaper-column spoof of Pride and Prejudice and while no one would begrudge Fielding the success of the subsequent books and films, they've steadily decreased in sophistication and wit.
'Retirement now surely beckons for Bridget.'
The Express gave it three stars and said it was 'lighthearted' but criticised it for being slightly too long.
They said: 'Bridget Jones films have been a staple of British rom-com hilarity, and the ever-excellent Zellweger helms several belly laughs in this feel-good and lighthearted fourthquel.'
Empire gave it four stars saying it was one of the most emotional films of the series and called it a 'charming return for Bridget'.
They wrote: 'The sequel we didn't know we needed, Mad About The Boy is a heartfelt, charming return to the chaos surrounding the one and only Bridget Jones. You might even shed a few tears.'
The Hollywood Reporter also called it poignant and praised how Renee portrayed grief after her husband's death.
They said: 'What really distinguishes Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, however, is the depth of feeling it brings to the protagonist's grief and her gradual emergence from it. That goes double for Zellweger's performance.'
In the film Bridget finds herself in the middle of a battle for her affections between boy toy Roxster and Chiwetel's teacher character Mr. Wallaker.
And Renee has words for anyone criticising the 'cougar' storyline, musing that 'people are talking about all the films that are showing this dynamic as the central relationship. I have no regrets. This is nothing new in society.'
Leo, 28, also recently said that he's pleased to see age gap couples depicted on screen - especially where the woman is the elder of the pair.
'When two people find the connection, why shouldn't they see where it goes without judgment?' he told Stellar Magazine.
'Both dynamics should be equally normalised. It's a good thing that we're getting the reverse' Leo continued.
'Because it's not uncommon – it's just not portrayed much in movies.'
Helen Fielding meanwhile is also hoping the latest film will smash the idea that women have a 'sexual sell-by date'.
Speaking ahead of the film's release this week on Valentine's Day, Helen, 66, said: 'I really wanted to smash the idea with this movie that there's a sexual sell-by-date for women and not for men, and stick it to the awful cougar stereotype.
'It makes me think of a woman in animal print leering over a friend of my son's, going, 'Do you want a sherry, darling?'
'It's got to stop because it's really not reflecting what's happening.'
Speaking to The Sunday Times, she added: 'For years and years we've seen Hollywood show men 40 years older than their partners, and it's not even discussed.
'Now movies are finally exploring a desire between younger men and older women that's reciprocal, not transactional.
