Richard Curtis, ‘Bridget Jones’ Screenwriter, 

‘Surprised’ by Darcy Plot Twist 

Alex Suskind | Moviefone - October 2, 2013

“Bridget Jones’s Diary” fans are still reeling over yesterday’s news that their beloved Mark Darcy would be offed in the upcoming third installment of Helen Fielding’s bestselling series.

Darcy, memorably portrayed on screen by Oscar winner Colin Firth, has become something of a fan favorite since the first book and its corresponding adaptation were released more than 10 years ago. But even though fans are clearly enraged at the thought of losing Darcy, not everyone is broken up about the news.

Richard Curtis, the screenwriter of “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and its sequel, “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” was taken aback but didn’t seem too upset with Fielding’s latest plot twist.

“I thought I knew what the plot was, so I was taken by surprise,” Curtis told Moviefone while promoting his upcoming film, “About Time.” Even more surprising to Curtis was the fact that his daughter Scarlett had known Darcy would die for the past year.

“Helen’s been my best friend since I was a baby. But Scarlett is her goddaughter, and they get on much better than Helen and I do. So Helen sent her bits and told her all about it and no one shared it with me.” (Curtis echoed similar thoughts at a BAFTA lecture earlier this week.)

Though Curtis stated that he won’t be participating in the long-gestating “Bridget Jones’s Diary 3” – “I’ve done two of the films and I think that’s going to be it. I am looking forward to reading [the book]” – he did add that “Colin Firth dies really well [on screen]. If there’s going to be a movie, I think we can rely on him to die with maximum drama.”