‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ Film Updates: Hugh Grant Reveals Reason for Skipping Out on Sequel; Ellie Goulding Releases New Song for Soundtrack

‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ is set to feature the return of Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth as Bridget and Mark, respectively, but Hugh Grant’s character Daniel will not be making appearing in the sequel. Grant revealed that he wasn’t keen on the script and decided to skip out on the follow-up. Meanwhile, Ellie Goulding recently released her new song for the film’s soundtrack.

According to Hollywood Life, Grant revealed the real reason why he decided to skip out on the third installment in the romantic comedy franchise based on Helen Fielding’s novels.

During an appearance on the chat show ‘Watch What Happens Live’ hosted by Andy Cohen, a fan asked about his absence in the sequel. He replied, “Well, that’s heavy Jordan… No they did, they did come to me a couple of years ago. And they had a lovely idea for a film. I’m particularly difficult and queenie when it comes to scripts, and I couldn’t quite make the script work for me, so they then made it without me. And I’m sure it’s brilliant.” 

When asked if he regretted his decision about not getting involved in director Sharon Maguire’s upcoming film, he joked, “It depends how much money it makes, obviously.”

Grant portrayed Daniel Cleaver in the first live-adaptation of Fielding’s novel of the same name. Daniel was one of the film’s main characters and love interest to Zellweger’s Bridget Jones in addition to Firth’s Mark Darcy. Daniel was Bridget’s smooth-talking and overly self-confident boss at the publishing company in London where she worked.

The first film, ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’, received positive reviews from critics upon its release on 2001. It won Zellweger an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role as the socially awkward Bridget who constantly obsesses over her weight and love affairs. According to Box Office Mojo, the first film earned $281.93 worldwide on a production budget of $25 million.

Its sequel, ‘Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason’, was released on 2004 and featured the return of Grant, Zellweger and Firth as the film’s main cast. In contrast to its predecessor, the follow-up received generally negative reviews but still managed to do well at the box office.

Joining Zellweger and Firth in the third film’s cast are Patrick Dempsey, Sally Phillips, James Callis, Celia Irmie, Shirley Henderson, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, and Gemma Jones.

The new film follows Bridget as she finds solace in old friends and her career as a news producer after finding herself single again in her forties. She then meets a handsome American who is the anti-thesis of Mark Darcy. She later finds herself pregnant but unable to guess who the baby’s father is.

Emma Thompson, Helen Fielding, and Dan Mazer prepared the screenplay based on Fielding’s characters with Sharon Maguire directing. Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, and Debra Hayward are producing with Jane Robertson as co-producer.

English singer-songwriter Elle Goulding has signed on to provide a new song for the film’s soundtrack. According to Digital Spy, Goulding released her new track entitled “Still Falling for You” last August 19. She has reportedly shot an accompanying music video starring Zellweger herself.

Goulding isn’t the only music superstar involved in the film. It was also reported that Ed Sheeran of “Thinking Out Loud” fame is set to make a cameo. Sheeran said, "Whether it ends up being a speaking part or just my gig, there's definitely me in there."  

‘Bridget Jones’s Bay’ is scheduled to premiere in the United States on September 16, 2016.