Universal is on the lookout for a director for their upcoming untitled Bridget Jones sequel. Deadline reports that Bridesmaids director Paul Feig, who was working on developing the property, has stepped down as a helmer and Universal Studios is now on the search for a British talent to match the film’s sensibilities.
The original film, released in 2001, was based on the novel Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding. It starred Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth and earned an impressive $544.4 million worldwide. It was followed by a sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason in 2004.
Earlier in the year, Fielding hinted that Bridget having a mid-thirties baby crisis would be a central plot in the novel, though she was uncertain at that time if the third novel and the third film would feature the same storyline.
A director is expected to be announced shortly with production eyed to begin in January of 2012 with Zellweger, Grant and Firth all expected to return.