Oscar winner Colin Firth eyes Bridget Jones 3

After winning his best actor Oscar, Colin Firth has Hollywood at his feet. Yet it seems that life after Bertie - Firth's performance as the stammering George VI in The King's Speech - could see the British actor return to his role as Bridget Jones's love interest for a third time.
 
The First Post has learned that 'Bridget Jones 3' is in the pipeline, even though the second movie in the franchise was slammed by critics. Firth, fellow Oscar winner Renee Zellweger and their co-star Hugh Grant are all said to be keen on reprising their roles for a film that is likely to be commercially popular if not critically acclaimed.

Zellweger is reported to have refused to play the neurotic singleton Bridget again if the role required her to put on extra weight. (She had to add as much as 20lb for the first two films, Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and 2004's Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.) However, it is understood the new movie will avoid the issue by showing a svelte Bridget looking smug after she finally reaches her ideal weight.

It has also been floated that the plot for the third film might hinge on a “pregnancy love triangle” between Bridget Jones and her rival suitors, the brooding Mark Darcy (Firth) and rakish 'love rat' Daniel Cleaver (Grant).

A spokeswoman at one of the film's production companies, Working Title, confirmed to The First Post that a third Bridget Jones film is in development, but she refused to comment on whether Zellweger, Firth and Grant would return.

But it seems likely that Firth - who told the Oscars audience on Sunday night that his career had "just peaked" - is keen. He said to the BBC recently: "I don't really want to be part of a perpetual franchise but we're all getting so old! I think the idea of Mark and Daniel and Bridget in advanced stages of deterioration could be quite fun. We're making a comedy after all."

The first Bridget Jones film - based on the Helen Fielding novel - was an international smash hit both critically and commercially, taking $281 million. The second film was trounced by the critics but did almost as well at the worldwide box office, earning $262 million. ·