EXCLUSIVE: Universal/Working Title’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has crossed the $100 million mark at the international box office. The return of Renée Zellweger as the titular heroine swept past the milestone with Wednesday’s numbers included, reaching $101.3M through yesterday.
Whereas this is a direct-to-Peacock play domestically, Universal is releasing theatrically overseas. In 75 Uni markets through Wednesday, the gross is $94.8M. Studiocanal handles France where the total to date is $6.5M. Note that Universal still has Japan and Korea on deck, on April 11 and April 16, respectively.
Mad About the Boy, directed by Michael Morris and starring Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall, has now topped the offshore lifetime of Ticket to Paradise, making it Working Title’s biggest film post-pandemic.
In the UK & Ireland, the fourquel remains at a strong No. 1 with a running total of $47.6M through Wednesday. It surpassed the lifetimes of Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Love Actually earlier this week, becoming the 4th biggest Working Title film of all time and the 3rd highest grossing romcom ever in the market.
Since releasing in time for Valentine’s Day and leaning into the underserved female audience, the movie has enjoyed several No. 1 openings and held that position not only in the UK but also in Australia and the Netherlands. Germany opened at No. 1 this past weekend.
Overall, the top 5 markets to date are the UK ($47.6M), Australia ($8M), France ($6.5M), Netherlands ($4.5M) and Poland ($4.5M).
Mad About the Boy also features Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson, James Callis, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones and Emma Thompson.
The screenplay is by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer and Abi Morgan. Producers are Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner; and Jo Wallett. Studiocanal and Miramax co-financed the film.