Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy has exceeded expectations at the UK box office, becoming the best-performing romcom in the UK on opening weekend ever. The fourth instalment in the adventures of Helen Fielding’s bumbling diarist made $14.9m (£11.8m) over its four-day opening weekend, beating all three previous instalments, the second of which, Edge of Reason, was the previous record-holder with $8.1m. It is also the best ever opening for British production outfit Working Title film – and above the opening weekend for Oppenheimer, another recent hit from Universal, the Hollywood studio that distributes Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. The film marks Universal’s 11th best opening, just behind Jurassic World Dominion. The film, which opened alongside new titles such as Captain America: Brave New World, accounted for 45% of the UK box office take over the weekend, while exhibitor Everyman delivered their largest ever three-day opening, beating the record previously set by the most recent James Bond film, No Time to Die. However, while pre-sales were reported last week to have outstripped Barbie, in the end Michael Morris’s fourquel fell short of that £18.5m opening enjoyed by Greta Gerwig’s satire. Mad About the Boy, which sees Renée Zellweger’s heroine now widowed with two young children, and choosing between suitors Leo Woodall and Chiwetel Ejiofor, also opened strongly in territories such as Australia and Mexico, as well as across Europe. In the US, however, it has gone straight to streaming through Peacock.