Colin Firth pretty much classes up the joint whenever he appears on screen, so no surprise the actor is in high demand. Hell, this morning we learned he was making a rare blockbuster move, and lining up a role in Matthew Vaughn‘s “Secret Service.” But when Woody Allen comes calling, you clear your schedule, and Firth certainly has.
Deadline reports that the actor will be joining the recently cast Emma Stone in Allen’s next movie, which, following his annual tradition, will shoot this year. Title? None. Plot details? None, naturally. But word on the street is that it will shoot in the south of France, probably look glorious, and by the time this is done casting up, will feature a few more big names looking to hang with a legend, get paid for it and spend some time in beautiful locations. Not a bad life at all. But one movie you won’t be seeing Firth in anytime soon is a third “Bridget Jones Diary” movie.
You’ll remember about a year or so ago, folks were getting momentarily hot and bothered about something called “Bridget Jones’ Baby,” which would’ve reunited Firth, Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant, in a movie directed by “The Full Monty” helmer Peter Cattaneo (Paul Feig was initially attached, but wound up just working on the script, which was eventually turned over to David Nicholls and Helen Fielding). Anyway, over a year ago, it was reported that the picky Grant wasn’t happy with the script, and more work was being done and the reason you haven’t heard anything more is that there is nothing to tell.
“Unfortunately, it might be a bit of a long wait,” Firth told the Chicago Sun-Times about the status of the third ‘Bridget Jones’ movie. “I wouldn’t say that it’s completely dead in the water, but the way it’s going you might be seeing Bridget Jones’ granddaughter’s story being told by the time we get there…There is a joy of doing those movies that keeps hope alive. And the story is going in an interesting direction. I just wouldn’t say that the movie is imminent.”
So there you go: Woody Allen 1, Bridget Jones 0 and win-win for everyone.