Renee Zellweger returns for new Bridget Jones film

Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson are set to reprise their roles for a fourth film instalment of Bridget Jones.

The romantic comedy Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy will see 12 Years A Slave star Chiwetel Ejiofor and One Day actor Leo Woodall join the cast of the sequel, set for release on Valentine's Day 2025.

Two-time Oscar winner Zellweger will reprise her beloved role as Bridget, while Grant will return as rapscallion Daniel Cleaver and Thompson, who starred in the third instalment as Bridget's despairing obstetrician, also returns.

British author Helen Fielding previously said she had decided to write Bridget's love interest Mark Darcy, played by Oscar winner Colin Firth, out of the third book in the popular series because she didn't want Bridget to become "a smug married".

In the book titled Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, Bridget is a widow in her 50s with two children, as it is revealed Mark has died some years earlier - although it is not clear what plot the film will take.

Firth reprised his role in the third film in the franchise titled Bridget Jones's Baby, which saw his character competing with billionaire US love guru Jack Qwant, played by Patrick Dempsey, for the attention of Bridget after she falls pregnant.

The hit 2016 sequel came 12 years after US actress Zellweger adopted a an English accent to portray the hapless singleton in the second instalment titled Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason.

The original adaptation titled Bridget Jones's Diary, starring Zellweger as a 30-something chardonnay-swilling singleton, was released in 2001 to wide acclaim.

Zellweger scored her second Academy Award in 2020 for her leading role as famed singer and actress Judy Garland.