Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Scoop!
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
[comingsoon.net]

'Spiegeltrui' wrote in with news from the Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason set in Austria, where the production is filming quite a scene for the sequel, starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. The scoop includes spoiler material, so if you'd rather not know a thing about the film, then skip to the next article ...

My parents are currently on vacation in Lech am Arlberg, Austria. Famous skiing area where the Dutch royal family also does their skiiing.

Anyway, my father just told me they were shooting a scene with Renée Zellweger for Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason on the "Schlegelkopf" slope (see here). My father only saw a shoot of a woman in a pink suit (Zellweger, or stuntwoman?) going down the slope.

However, he was also in a ski-class with someone who was in the same hotel as a cameraman on the set. Now this guy talked to the cameraman about some plot details. Apparently, Bridget Jones will accidently step into a wrong ski-lift, ending up in a ski-contest. In her clumsiness she accidentally takes a shortcut, resulting in her winning the race. But not being able to stop, she keeps going until she skis into a bar, right into the arms of Hugh Grant.

Sounds a little corny to me, but hey, it is Bridget Jones 2.

BRIDGET JONES TO HAVE LESBIAN FLING?
[channel4.com]
12/5/2003



Hollywood actress RENEE ZELLWEGER is set to shock fans in the BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY sequel, after it was revealed her character will indulge in a lesbian fling.

Texas native Zellweger, who piled on the pounds for a second time to reprise her role as the unlucky-in-love Brit, has been spotted sharing passionate kisses with an Australian actress on the London set of BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON.

The stunning actress lucky enough to share the kiss with Zellweger is former REAL WORLD LONDON cast member JACINDA BARRETT.

The eagerly-anticipated movie, set to hit screens next year (04), also features British actors HUGH GRANT and COLIN FIRTH.

Grant getting a kick out of new-look Zellweger
11/13/03 [irelandon-line]

British star Hugh Grant is enjoying Renee Zellweger’s new luscious figure - because he gets to tease her.

Grant, who is playing cad Daniel Cleaver in the film sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, wasted no time giving the usually skinny Zellweger grief for her expanded frame.

A source says: "The minute he clapped eyes on Renee he hollered, 'My God, you're huge!' He's been carrying on with the fatty jibes ever since, but Renee laughs it off, saying at least she's supposed to be chunky.

"They giggle together like kids all the time. The other day, she left him an autographed pair of Bridget-style big knickers - only they were about 10 sizes bigger than the ones she wears."

 

Colin Firth loses voice in fight with Hugh Grant
31st October 2003

Colin Firth has lost his voice on the set of Bridget Jones II after being thrown into a pond during a fight with Hugh Grant.

The sequel sees a second brawl between Firth's character Mark Darcy and Hugh Grant's character Daniel Cleaver - in which Firth ends up being thrown into a pond.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason sees the return of Renee Zellweger and is currently shooting in London.

"You may have noticed I've lost my voice," Firth told Empire Online.

"It's not puberty, it's actually because I was freezing cold - we end up in the water in that fight. I spent a couple of days in a very, very cold pond with Hugh Grant, which socially was pleasant enough but has left me a little worse for wear."

Firth admitted that he had reservations about starring in the sequel to Bridget Jones' Diary.

He said: "It's very odd actually, I think most of us were skeptical. Obviously a sequel is fraught with dangers but most of my fears were allayed the minute Renee opened her mouth.

"I thought there's a lot more life in this now, she's great and we're going to want to see a lot more of this."

In the new film Bridget has moved in with barrister Mark Darcy, but discovers domestic bliss is not so blissful after all.

A tough new storyline sees the heroine dumping her beau, before a series of mishaps land her in a Thai prison.

Renee 'horsing around'
10/21/2003 13:41 - (SA)

London - Renee Zellweger giggled and wobbled her way through a scene of the new Bridget Jones movie when she was called on to mount her horse back to front, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old star, dressed in the red jacket, white breeches, white gloves and knee-high boots of the English hunting set, was shown grasping the tolerant horse's hindquarters in an effort not to fall off.

"Renee couldn't stop giggling. She kept wobbling on top of the animal and couldn't help herself when the giggles came," an eyewitness to the filming in Hertfordshire near London told the tabloid.

Zellweger, who has put on up to 20kg to play the role, has been required to humiliate herself several times on set as she plays an inept English single looking for a partner.

Shooting for the film, also starring Hugh Grant, started two weeks ago. It is to be released next year. - Sapa-DP

Barrett Hints at Twist in 'Bridget Jones' Sequel
[www.ananova.com]

BRIDGET JUMPS
dailyrecord.co.uk                                                                                                                               
[Oct 10, 2003]                                                                                                                       

ACTRESS Renee Zellweger really threw herself into her latest starring role yesterday.

The 34-year-old was filming new Bridget Jones movie The Edge Of Reason.

The actress, who is currently promoting her film Cold Mountain, was kitted out with a parachute and jumpsuit before being lowered from a crane for the opening scene of the Bridget Jones sequel, due out next year.

Renee, who has gone from her usual size six to a 14 to play Bridget, was filming at an RAF base in Buckinghamshire.

Earlier this week, Renee said she was sick of all the talk about her expanding figure.

She added: ``It's not my favourite thing to talk about. I just don't understand why there is such a big fuss.''

Beeban Kidron Set To Direct 'Bridget Jones 2'
[Mon June 23, 2003]

Beeban Kidron is set to direct the 'Bridget Jones' sequel - Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, according Variety.

Kidron had been a front-runner for the helming job but it all depended on Zellweger's agreement.

The originals cast members, Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, are said to have signed up. Shooting is expected to start in November.

The movie is to be adapted by Andrew Davies and Helen Fielding from Fielding's own follow-up to her first Bridget Jones book. In it, Bridget discovers that life with Mark Darcy isn't quite as perfect as she dreamed.

Kidron close to Bridget Jones sequel
(Screendaily, June 19, 2003, by Adam Minns)

 
After months of speculation, UK director Beeban Kidron is close to a deal to direct Renee Zellweger in Working Title Films' Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason.

Kidron has long been linked to the sequel to the 2001 hit but negotiations have stepped up in the last week. Zellweger, who starred in Bridget Jones's Diary, is already reportedly committed to the sequel, which is expected to start shooting this autumn.

Kidron, who first came to prominence with 1990 TV series Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, directed 1997's Swept From The Sea and 1995's To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar. She is reportedly signed to direct The Reluctant Matador for Myriad Pictures and Charles Finch and Luc Roeg's Artists Independent Network.

Helen Fielding's book The Edge of Reason picks up where Bridget Jones's Diary left off. Life with Mark Darcy turns out to be less than perfect, however, particularly when love rival Rebecca comes on the scene. The film version of Bridget Jones's Diary was directed by Sharon Maguire.

A Swell-weger for Bridget 
(The Sun, June 11, 2003)

Bridget Jones’s Diary star Renee Zellweger is scoffing 20 doughnuts a DAY in a bid to pile on two stones for the sequel.   

Seven-stone Renee has six weeks to go from a size six to a size 14 before playing the podgy neurotic in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.  Blonde Renee has ruled out exercise during her 4,700 calorie-a-day diet.

Renee, 34, set to earn $25 million for the film, said: “One doughnut does not do a thing — you’ve got to eat 20 a day for five weeks to get results.” 

She put on 20lb in three months for the blockbuster original but got hooked on pizza. It took months of running and yoga to lose weight.   

Bridget Jones's Dietary

BREAKFAST: Big Mac with large fries, savoury scones with gravy and a high-fat milkshake.   

LUNCH: Pizza, peanut butter and chips, followed by doughnuts washed down with another milkshake.  

DINNER: Giant plate of spaghetti and meat sauce with potatoes and butter.

Renee and the $24 m bulge
(Daily Mail, May 30, 2003, by Tony Bonnici)

Renée Zellweger is to pile on the pounds to play Bridget Jones again—in return for a pay deal which will make her one of Hollywood's top earners. The Texan actress, who had resisted reprising the role, is to receive more than $24 million to appear in The Edge Of Reason. It dwarfs the $4 million she received for the first film, Bridget Jones's Diary, released two years ago to critical and public acclaim.

Miss Zellweger, 34, was said to be reluctant to put on the 20lb required to play the Chardonnay— swigging singleton for a second time. The actress, who had trouble losing the two stones she put on for the first film, will have to increase her intake by about 1,550 calories a day and will not be allowed to exercise. But she will not have to keep the weight on throughout filming—in the new movie Bridget loses weight when she ends up in a Thai prison wrongly accused of drug smuggling.

The $24 million is double the amount Miss Zellweger was paid for her last three films, Down With Love, Cold Mountain and the musical Chicago, for which she was nominated for an Oscar as best actress. The sum propels her into the A-list of female stars who can command top fees for their work, including Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman.

Under the deal, signed this week with British production company Working Title, Miss Zellweger will receive $16 million up front, plus a further 10 per cent of box office takings once the film has earned its costs back. On top of that, she will be entitled to a share of profits from the lucrative DVD and video sales. The first film cost $26 million to make and took more than $166 million worldwide.

Despite its success, Miss Zellweger was said to be unhappy at the thought of doing a follow-up because she feared it would not live up to expectations.

In the new movie, adapted from Helen Fielding's bestselling book, Bridget has moved in with barrister Mark Darcy, played by Colin Firth in the original film. Life is not as perfect as she had hoped, however, because Darcy proves to be exceptionally lazy with regard to hygiene. [Ed note: Suspect writer projected last girl friend's complaint on object of same's affection; is jealousy.] Fed-up Bridget, now a successful television presenter, moves out but a series of problems see her end up in the Thai prison.

Firth and Hugh Grant, who played her love interests in the first film, have also agreed to sign up to the long-awaited sequel.

Filming in Britain is due to start in July.




A Bridget too far?
(Daily Mail, May 23, 2003 by Baz Bamigboye)

So close and yet so far… The Edge of Reason, the much anticipated sequel to Bridget Jones’s Diary, has hit a bump. Renée Zellweger’s agents want a change of director. They have said they would prefer the film NOT to be directed by Beeban Kidron, who has the backing of its British producers at Working Title.

Renée’s people want Nigel Cole, the man who made Calendar Girls (which will be a blockbuster when it opens in September). But they won’t get him because, coming off a hit movie, he won’t want to make a follow-up to someone else’s film—albeit a high profile one.

The people at Working Title have been busily trying to persuade Renée’s people to let them stick with Ms Kidron. Other than that tiny problem, the film is ready to go before the cameras in the autumn. In another twist, I’m informed that Renée would have declined to do The Edge of Reason if she had won the Oscar for her role as Roxie Hart in Chicago.

Savvy Oscar winners are usually advised not to make a sequel immediately after they win the statuette, although Godfather 2 is an exception to the general rule.

Renée probably couldn’t afford not to do The Edge of Reason. I’m told she has an offer of $16 million—plus ten per cent of box office takings once the film has got its money back, and a share of profits from DVD and video sales.

It’s a $20 million-plus pay-day for Renée! She will be before the cameras playing Bridget Jones in the fall. ‘Period!’ said someone close to her agents.


Hello magazine

In the new flick Bridget has moved in with barrister Mark Darcy, but discovers domestic bliss is not so blissful after all. A tough new storyline sees our heroine dumping her beau, before a series of mishaps land her in a Thai prison.




Bridget Jones is back
(Daily Mail, May 16, 2003 by Baz Bamigboye)

After more than two years of on-again, off-again negotiations, Renée Zellweger is poised to sign on the dotted line and bring thirty-something Bridget Jones back before the cameras in October.

The actress, who won an Oscar nomination for the first movie, Bridget Jones’s Diary, will arrive in London in September to prepare for filming the long-awaited sequel. Colin Firth will return as her posh lawyer lover Mark Darcy, and Hugh Grant will make a brief appearance as love rat Daniel Cleaver. The movie will be based on Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones sequel, The Edge of Reason.

Renée gained 20 pounds for the first picture but the new storyline includes Bridget thrown into a Thai jail on drug charges, so she won’t be required to put on much weight—for that part of the plot at any rate. A film studio executive told me in Cannes that it was a new script by Adam Brooks that finally won Renée over.

There were a number of potential complications with the new screenplay—for example, Bridget has to interview Colin Firth as himself. Screenwriter Andrew Davies and Ms Fielding worked on the script for the new film, but neither could overcome the plot problems. Finally, executives at London-based Working Title film company hand-delivered a copy of Brook’s version to Renee in Los Angeles.

However, an executive close to the production—nerves frayed after months of negotiations with Renée—urged a little caution. ‘It’s true that the intention is to film in October and Renée has very intention of doing The Edge of Reason but there’s still no signed bit of paper.’

Undeterred, director Beeban Kidron has started scouting locations.



Daily Mail, March 14, 2003
(by Baz Bamigboye)

Renée Zellweger has been persuaded to stick with the Bridget Jones movie sequel. And if she likes a new script being worked on now and due to be finished in a matter of weeks, then the film could be before cameras by the end of the summer.

High-priced screenwriter Adam Brooks has been paid a fortune to ‘polish’ existing drafts of the script, which will be shown to Renee and others connected to the production next month.

He has been brought in to ‘iron out’ problems with earlier drafts of Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason, written for the screen by award-winning Andrew Davies.

Recently, there had been concern that all was not well with the project—a follow-up to one of the most successful British comedy films in years. The original director wasn’t involved, there were script worries and leading lady Renee wasn’t signing on the dotted line. ‘We’re workin’ on it’, she told me, adding: ‘We’re not there yet’.

If the new script passes muster with Renée and other key players such as Colin Firth, Hugh Grant and new director Beeban Kidron, then the project will be ‘fast-tracked’ and will go into production late this summer, those close to the project inform me.

‘Renée had the title role and her name above the title with Bridget Jones’s Diary and she won her first Academy Award nomination for it. So the bar has been set high. You only want to do a second film if the bar is raised just as high, if not higher,’ an executive explained. Another film chief told me: ‘It’ll happen. Adam Brooks did a script called Wimbledon and everyone likes it, and he’ll do a great job on The Edge of Reason. This is a movie people want to see and Renée knows that.’



Actress lands a weighty role in Bridget Jones: the sequel
(The Times, Jan 20, 2003, by Alan Hamilton)

GOOD news for all frumpish thirtysomething singletons. In fact, v.g. news. Renée Zellweger, the Hollywood stick insect who piled on the pounds to star in Bridget Jones’s Diary, has finally agreed to appear in the sequel. After months of dithering, the diminutive actress has agreed to take the lead in The Edge Of Reason, based on Helen Fielding’s second Bridget Jones novel. It has to follow one of the most successful British films, which took $2.8 million on its first day alone in 2001, after hitting the G-spots of a whole female generation of city-dwelling chardonnay-swiggers.

“I’m ready, willing and able; Bridget’s a character I really identify with,” Ms Zellweger confirmed at a press conference for her latest vehicle, Chicago. “I’ll put the weight back on with pleasure.”

She had to fatten up by nearly 20lb for the original role. Barely a year ago, the prospect of a second Bridget Jones film seemed doomed when Ms Zellweger declared: “There is no way I am going to put all that weight on again.”

According to Hollywood gossip, she was persuaded by Colin Firth, her on-screen lover in the first film, who is expected to reprise his role as Mark Darcy. “To work with Colin again would be fantastic,” Ms Zellweger said.

The script may also have had a bearing. Andrew Davies, who is writing the screenplay with Richard Curtis in between television costume-drama adaptations, promised a more streamlined Bridget. “The script doesn’t require her to bulk up all that much. The plot involves her doing time in a Thai jail for drug-smuggling, which means she actually has to lose weight,” he said.

In a television interview earlier this month, Ms Zellweger said: “I’ll do it if it’s worthy of Helen Fielding and the character Bridget embodies.”

The Edge of Reason is expected to be released in the summer of 2004. Fans will have to wait until then to discover whether Bridget has sharpened up her dress sense and substituted a thong for those awful Zeppelin-sized knickers.



Renee Agrees to Bridget Jones Sequel
(WENN, Jan 17, 2003)

After months of speculation, Hollywood star Renée Zellweger has finally agreed to appear in a sequel to 2001 hit movie Bridget Jones's Diary—even if it means she must put on weight. Plans for a second installment were scuppered last year when the slim star insisted "There is no way I'm going to put all that weight on again. I hated it." But it seems her on screen love interest, British actor Colin Firth, has persuaded her to reprise her role as the frustrated singleton. Renée says, "I'm ready, willing and able. Bridget's a character I really identify with. I'll put the weight back on with pleasure." And on Firth's influence, she adds, "To work with Colin again would be fantastic." The actress may not have to bulk up quite so much as she did in the first movie. Writer Andrew Davies explains fans will see a more streamlined Bridget in the follow up. He says, "This time the script doesn't require her to bulk up all that much. The plot involves her doing time in a Thai jail, which means she actually has to lose weight."