Fictional British literary figure Bridget Jones gets herself into another adventure, this time as an expectant mother, in the franchise's third film, "Bridget Jones's Baby".
Who's in it and what's it about?
Renée Zellwegger returns as television producer Bridget Jones and finds herself expecting a child.
Due to complicating factors, she's not entirely sure who the father is, a situation played out for our (and perhaps her) entertainment after a medical professional deems the two most likely candidates to be equally likely candidates.
Fortunately, for fans of continuity, one of those men happens to be old flame Mark Darcy, played once more by Colin Firth ("Bridget Jones's Diary", "Love, Actually", "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" and "The King's Speech").
Joining them is newcomer to the franchise Patrick Dempsey (of "Grey's Anatomy", "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon"), who plays Mark's American competition, the handsome and pro-active Jack.
Also appearing in the movie are Emma Thompson ("Sense and Sensibility" and "Saving Mr. Banks") as Bridget's doctor, as well as Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent as her parents and Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson and Jessica Hynes continuing as her friends and confidants.
Who's behind it?
Creator and author of the Bridget Jones novels, Helen Fielding, adapted the film from the newspaper columns she had written for The Independent some 10 years prior, with Emma Thompson along with Dan Mazer — a frequent collaborator with Sacha Baron Cohen — also on board.
Behind the camera is Sharon Maguire, another returnee from "Bridget Jones's Diary" in 2001.
Is it any good?
Greeted with an early reviewers' approval rating of 91 percent by aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, "Bridget Jones's Diary" was given an average 6.8/10 review score. That consensus has been duplicated by Metacritic's sources, which had the film on a 62 score in advance of release.
In comparison, "Bridget Jones's Diary" was met with 66 from Metacritic and 81 percent from Rotten Tomatoes, while interquel "Edge of Reason" accrued 44 and 27 percent respectively.
When's it out?
Rated R by the MPAA (like the two previous films), "Bridget Jones's Baby" releases September 16 in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland, and the same week in a number of territories including Australia, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Russia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
Its international roll-out expands to include Brazil from September 22, France from October 5, Belgium the following week, Germany from October 20, and Japan from October 29.
