Dan Mazer: Last News

The Simpsons veteran Tim Long has been tapped to co-write and showrun Bloom County, an animated series based on Berkeley Breathed’s 1980s comic strip, which has been in development at Fox.

EXCLUSIVE: Universal/Working Title’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has crossed the $100M 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.

Just in time for Valentines Day, Bridget Jones comes to the rescue in a season where the holiday of love has so far been dedicated to horror (Heart Eyes) and action (Love Hurts), the latter a violent Jackie Chan ripoff is the one Universal chose to release in theatres in the U.S., but the fourth go round with the delightful romantic comedy, Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is the one that Universal should have given the valentine to U.S. exhibition. Instead is only being released in theatres internationally, and of course the U.K. for this very British movie. As for America? Well, you better subscribe to Peacock because inexplicably it is going day and date straight to streaming. Studios still aren’t learning the lessons of last year’s surprise holiday season theatrical hit, Anyone But You, or for that matter the Bridget Jones franchise itself which has delivered over $800 million worldwide from three films beginning with 2001’s Bridget Jones Diary, 2004’s Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, and 2016’s Bridget Jones Baby. Along with its producer Working Title’s other movies like Love Actually, Notting Hill, About A Boy, and Four Weddings And A Funeral, Bridget Jones singlehandedly reinvented the romcom genre for a new generation thanks to Helen Fielding’s enormously popular books, and especially its star, Renee Zellweger whose spirit and zest for life and love fits seamlessly into a role that won her a first Oscar nomination and remains the character you can’t imagine anyone else doing.

Chat show legend Graham Norton is venturing into the film industry with his next big project co-writing and producing a romantic comedy. Industry insiders reveal that his company, So Television, and production firm Tiger Mountain are joining forces for this UK-Irish movie, which is set to start filming later this year.The man behind the camera will be Dan Mazer, one of the screenwriters of 2016's Bridget Jones' Baby and the upcoming fourth movie in the series, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy that is due for release on Valentine's Day next year.

Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers), Josette Simon (Anatomy of a Scandal), Nico Parker (How to Train Your Dragon) and Leila Farzad (I Hate Suzie) have joined the cast of Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, with nine signing on to reprise roles from previous installments of the beloved rom-com franchise.

Jack Dunn “Wedding Crashers” star Isla Fisher, Nico Parker (“How To Train Your Dragon”), Josette Simon (“Anatomy of a Scandal”) and Leila Farzad (“Black Mirror: Joan is Awful”) have joined the cast of “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” which premieres on Valentine’s Day next year in theaters internationally and on Peacock in the U.S. Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent return to play Bridget’s mom and dad. Sarah Solemani, Sally Phillips, Shirley Henderson and James Callis will return to reprise their roles as Bridget’s friends.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Fox’s “Bloom County” animated series has signed “The Simpsons” writer Tim Long as co-showrunner on the project, Variety has confirmed. Long will write, executive produce and showrun the comedy, which is still in the development stage at Fox, alongside original “Bloom County” comic strip creator Berkeley Breathed. Per Fox, “Bloom County” centers on a collapsed lawyer, a lobotomized cat and an overly-carbonated penguin immigrant living in the world’s last boarding house in the world’s most forgotten place deep in the dandelion wilds of FlyWayThe@%!#OVER country. To wit, today’s America at a glance.

Selome Hailu Catherine Cohen’s debut comedy special “The Twist …? She’s Gorgeous” will premiere on Netflix on March 15, Variety has learned exclusively.In the special, which was taped at Joe’s Pub in New York, Cohen uses her musical expertise to divulge details about relationships, modern feminism and being the main character of her own life. Henry Koperski is featured on the keys.