Bridget Jones first came to life in a weekly column in The Independent in 1995, becoming a hit with singletons across the country. Since the column, Helen Fielding has written four Bridget Jones novels, and there have been three movie adaptations (with a fourth currently in production).
Find out where you can stream all Bridget Jones’s Diary movies in order with our guide below.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
Bridget Jones’s Diary is a romantic comedy movie released in 2001. Starring Renée Zellweger in the titular role, the film follows Bridget’s adventures as a 32-year-old single woman who writes about her life, goals, and innermost thoughts in her diary. She has a crush on her boss, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), and keeps bumping into an awkward but handsome barrister, Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). The story is loosely based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
Acclaimed English actors Jim Broadbent (Iris, Hot Fuzz) and Gemma Jones (Sense and Sensibility) feature as Bridget’s parents, Colin and Pamela. Her three best friends Jude, Tom and Sharon (“Shazza”) are played by Shirley Henderson, James Callis and Sally Phillips. Bridget Jones’s Diary is directed by Sharon Maguire, Fielding’s friend who is reportedly the inspiration for Bridget’s friend Shazza.
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
The second film in the franchise, based on Fielding’s novel of the same name, was released in 2004. Bridget and Mark Darcy are officially dating and happily living together, but true to form, Bridget’s insecurities soon get the better of her and their blissful relationship comes to a crashing halt. The main cast, led by Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth all reprise their roles from the original film.
The Edge of Reason is directed by Beeban Kidron, from a screenplay by Adam Brooks, Richard Curtis, Andrew Davies and Helen Fielding. The Edge of Reason ends with another very public battle between Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver, and Bridget and Mark getting engaged at the end of the movie.
Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016)
The film franchise returned in 2016 with Bridget Jones’s Baby, as a once-again single Bridget finds out she’s pregnant and doesn’t know who the father is. At a music festival, Bridget ends up having a one night stand with mathematician Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey), and a few days later, sleeps with a recently divorced Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). New additions to the Bridget Jones franchise include Emma Thompson as Doctor Rawlings, Sarah Solemani as Bridget’s friend and co-worker Miranda, and Kate O’Flynn as Alice Peabody.
Bridget Jones’s Baby was not based on a specific novel but more a continuation of Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones column. Fielding co-wrote the screenplay with Dan Mazer and Emma Thompson, and Sharon Maguire returned to direct. In the same year, Fielding released her novel Bridget Jones’s Baby: The Diaries.
Will there be a fourth Bridget Jones movie?
Yes! Bridget Jones is headed back on screen, with Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy. The confirmed cast includes Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall. English film and television director Michael Morris will be directing Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, from a screenplay written by Helen Fielding, Abi Morgan and Dan Mazar.
Fielding has revealed that the film takes place four years after Mark Darcy dies, leaving Bridget a fifty-year-old single mother dipping her toe in the dating pool once again. The film is expected to be released on Valentine’s Day, 2025.
Here are all the Bridget Jones’s Diary movies in order, and where to watch them.
