‘Bridget Jones 4’ advance tickets selling faster than ‘Barbie’, report UK cinemas

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is enjoying bigger advance sales a week ahead of release in UK and Ireland than was the case in summer 2023 with Barbie, according to two cinema chains that shared data with Screen.

At Odeon, by yesterday morning – one week ahead of the film’s February 13 UK and Ireland release – the multiplex chain said it had sold around 70,000 tickets, outselling Barbie in the comparative pre-sale period. Around 20% of tickets had been sold for the Thursday preview day, and around a third for Valentine’s Day (February 14).

At boutique chain Curzon, advance sales of the Universal Pictures International film were 20% ahead of Barbie this morning – on a like-for-like date comparison.

“We’re seeing a positive bias due to the smart scheduling of a Valentine’s Day release,” commented Damian Spandley, managing director of programming and sales at Curzon.

So far, nobody is suggesting that Mad About The Boy will achieve the same UK and Ireland total box office as Barbie (£95.7m), and nor is the film likely to open as big as Barbie did (£18.4m). Forecasts for UK and Ireland opening weekend box office are close to the £8.1m achieved by Bridget Jones’s Baby in 2016.

The strong advance sales for Mad About The Boy can be explained by the committed fanbase eager to see the first Bridget Jones film in nine years, and by Valentine’s dating creating a specific demand for the film on opening weekend – both for the dating market and the so-called “Galentine” audience of female friendship groups.

At Digital Cinema Media, content business director Tom Linay is projecting Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy to at least match Bridget Jones’s Baby at the UK and Ireland box office (£48.1m) – and possibly surpass it. “It is potentially £50m-plus,” said Linay.

DCM projects the film to rank third at the UK and Ireland box office this year, behind only Disney’s Avatar: Fire And Ash and Universal’s Wicked: For Good – which are dated for December 19 and November 21 respectively.

Linay’s projection is in line with the Vue cinema chain, where group regional director of screen content Eduardo Leal is forecasting Mad About The Boy to be “the biggest ever Bridget Jones film” in UK and Ireland, and where “presales are even higher than blockbusters like Barbie a week ahead of its opening”.

If these £48m-plus projections hold good, the fourth Bridget Jones film will give UK cinemas a boost in a month that is not traditionally strong. Last year, the biggest February titles were Universal’s family animation Migration (£21.5m) and Paramount’s music biopic Bob Marley: One Love (£17.2m). The last February release to hit £50m in UK and Ireland was Disney’s Black Panther in 2018, with £50.7m.

This month’s box office should also receive a boost from Disney’s latest Marvel title, Captain America: Brave New World. The film promotes Antony Mackie’s character into the title role (replacing Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers) and is a continuation of Disney+ miniseries The Falcon And The Winter Soldier.

Captain America: Brave New World releases February 14, and one industry forecast projects total UK and Ireland box office around £20m.

March dip

The downside is that the UK release calendar looks relatively sparse in the immediate wake of Mad About The Boy and Brave New World. March’s biggest film looks likely to be Disney’s Snow White, releasing on March 21, suggests Linay.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy looks set to benefit all UK cinemas, but perhaps some more than others. The film looks a particularly strong fit at Everyman, which has an upscale brand positioning, but also relatively mainstream programming. It also looks potentially strong at the UK’s more mainstream independent sites, and upscale venues with older-skewing audiences.

For example, independent cinema Picture House Uckfield reports £27,000 of advance ticket sales for Mad About The Boy a week ahead of release, which compares with £8,500 for Barbie at the same stage and £13,000 for Paddington In Peru – the venue’s top-grossing film of 2024.

“The caveat is that although Barbie was very popular, Bridget is right in our target demo,” commented Uckfield cinema owner Kevin Markwick.

At bijou indie Jam Jar Whitley Bay, Mad About The Boy has already achieved 94% capacity for opening weekend, with advance sales tracking ahead of Wicked at the same stage.

While UK cinemas are anticipating a rare February box office hit, an additional anticipated upside is the opportunity in food and beverage, especially on Valentine’s weekend. Everyman is offering a special Flirtini cocktail, while Odeon is on a similar track with its Flirty Fizz cocktail. Cineworld is offering ticket-and-beverage Bridget Jones bundles including a choice of white and pink prosecco.

UK cinemas are leaning into the themes of the Bridget character in other ways: Vue is promoting “Come as you are” to customers, and offering a free treat (pouch of Galaxy Minstrels chocolates or Popworks popped crisps) to patrons wearing pyjamas over opening weekend.

Global rollout

Despite the anticipated success of Mad About The Boy in the Bridget Jones franchise’s home market, the film is bypassing US cinemas and will instead premiere on Peacock on Valentine’s Day. Previous entry Bridget Jones’s Baby grossed just $24.3m in North American cinemas in 2016.

Mad About The Boy will, however, roll out internationally, beginning February 12. The franchise has traditionally performed strongly in markets including Australia, France, Netherlands and Germany.

Bridget Jones’s Diary grossed £42.1m at UK and Ireland cinemas in 2001; sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason dipped with £36.0m in 2004.

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is produced by Working Title Films and released by Universal Pictures International. Renée Zellweger stars alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall and Hugh Grant. Michael Morris (To Leslie) directs.

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