Hugh Grant's Bridget Jones days are over, the actor has announced: he will not be appearing in the third installment of the romantic comedy series, which also stars Oscar winning actors Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth. Hugh Grant's Bridget Jones relationship has been a strong part of the series since the first film, Bridget Jones' Diary, was first released back in 2001: in it, he played Bridget's boss-turned-boyfriend Daniel Cleaver, a serial cheater.

Recently, Hugh Grant and Bridget Jones' relationship was officially declared over, as the actor said he wouldn't be a part of the third installment of the series. In an interview at the Free Radio in the West Midlands, the actor declared that Hugh Grant and Bridget Jones wouldn't be an item anymore, as he wouldn't be playing Daniel Cleaver in the upcoming film.

The upcoming movie's script was reported to be getting tweaked by Oscar winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson, in an antic that newspaper The Sun says was meant to "save the third Bridget Jones movie."

According to Hugh Grant, while the third installment of the Bridget Jones books, Mad About The Boy, was "excellent," the script as he last saw it a few years ago was completely different from the original material, and he wasn't interested in the new revision.

The original film, Bridget Jones' Diary, was first released in 2001 and came to be a box-office and critical smash, even earning Zellweger her first ever Academy Award nomination, which would be the first in a series of three straight nods - the last of which brought her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2004, for her character in the 2003 American Civil War film Cold Mountain.

The second film, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason did well on the box office, but was panned by critics.

Reportedly, even without Hugh Grant, Bridget Jones will carry on. Zellweger has already signed up for the project.