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Bridget Jones's Baby bombs as Renee Zellweger's big-screen return is beaten by Tom Hanks' Sully at the U.S. box office

Published: 11:45 EST, 18 September 2016 | Updated: 16:37 EST, 18 September 2016

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It's been eagerly awaited - but the return of Bridget Jones to the big screen failed to ignite the box office.

Indeed Bridget Jones' Baby - the third movie in the franchise starring Renee Zellweger - only pulled in $8.2million, coming in a poor third behind fright fest Blair Witch with $9.7million and high-flyer Sully, which jetted into top spot for a second weekend.

Both of the new movies were way behind Sully's soaring $22 million haul, according to Variety.

Giving her a lift: The long anticipated Bridget Jones's Baby starring Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey, flopped at the US box office earning just $8.2 million for third place although it did better globally, pulling in a total $38 million

The flop of Renee's return as the once-beloved singleton, was the big surprise of the weekend.

It looked like the follow-up to 2001's Bridget Jones's Diary and 2004's Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, both romcom blockbusters, left it too late to capture its old magic Stateside.

But Bridget still woowed hearts in other countries, nabbing $29,000 for a respectable global take of just over $38million, recouping its reported $35million budget.

Meanwhile Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks as Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger, the pilot who pulled off the Miracle On The Hudson emergency plane landing, now has a domestic take of $70.5million and almost $94million globally.

Sully still soars: Clint Eastwood's movie starring Tom Hanks jetted into top spot for a second weekend with $22million, bringing its global hawl to almost $94 million

It was a hugely disappointing result for Blair Witch, which came in second and fell well short of tracking heading into the weekend when it was expected to earn $20million, according to Variety.

Badly reviewed, younger moviegoers may not have been familiar with the horror franchise as Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 came out 16 years ago.

The first film in the series, the Blair Witch Project kicked off the trend of found footage stories when it hit theaters in 1999, scaring up an incredible $248.6million global gross.

Scaring the audiences away: Blair Witch, released 16 years after Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, came in a disappointing second with just $9.7 million

Not into politics: Director Oliver Stone's Snowden, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt , was also over-shadowed by the aeronautical heroics, picking up $8 million for a fourth-place finish

The weekend's other wide-release, director Oliver Stone's Snowden, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as whistleblower Edward Snowden, was also over-shadowed by the aeronautical heroics, picking up $8million for a fourth-place finish.

Chiller Don't Breathe rounded out the top five, nabbing $5.6million to bring its domestic total to an impressive $75.3million after three weeks.

'We always think just because something has a recognisable brand name that it'll automatically be a hit with audiences, but that's not always the case,' said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box office tracker comScore.