Underplayed Gems
The whole movie catalogue

Films and series, searchable by what they are

← Back to the shop

Spice World (1997)

Spice World poster
Directed by
Bob Spiers
Genre
comedy film, musical film, children's film, female buddy film
Country
United Kingdom
Runtime
1h 32m
Rated
PG
Rating
4.9 of 10 from 508 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb

How it feels

The Spice Girls play themselves in a fictional adventure leading up to a big concert. They deal with a newspaper editor who tries to ruin their reputation. The movie includes dream sequences and cameos from many British celebrities.

playfulenergeticwhimsicallightheartedsurrealnostalgiccampy

What happens

Spice World is a 1997 British musical comedy film directed by Bob Spiers and written by Kim Fuller. The film stars pop girl group the Spice Girls, who all play themselves. The film — made in a similar vein to the Beatles' 1964 film A Hard Day's Night — depicts a series of fictional events leading up to a major concert at London's Royal Albert Hall, liberally interspersed with dream sequences and flashbacks as well as surreal moments and humorous asides, whilst also including a subplot dealing with a smear campaign against the Spice Girls by an overzealous newspaper CEO in an attempt to destroy their reputation for his own benefit. This is the second feature-length film directed by Spiers, following That Darn Cat (1997). The film features Richard E. Grant, Alan Cumming, George Wendt, Claire Rushbrook, Mark McKinney and Roger Moore in supporting roles, with cameo appearances by a number of British celebrities. Filming took place in London for six of the eight filming weeks and also inside Twickenham Studios, as well as at over forty famous British landmarks. Shooting featured several fourteen-hour shooting sessions and a constant, heavy media presence due to the Spice Girls' popularity. The film premiered in the United Kingdom on 15 December 1997, ahead of its wide theatrical release on the British holiday Boxing Day (26 December). In North America, it was released on 23 January 1998 by Columbia Pictures. In the United States, Spice World became a box office success and broke the record for the highest-ever weekend debut for Super Bowl weekend with box office sales of $10.5 million. The film grossed $56 million at the worldwide box office and received primarily negative reviews for its lack of cohesive plot, poor acting performances and uninspired humour. To celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2017, Spice World was given a limited re-release across the United Kingdom showing at Odeon Cinemas. Spice World is the highest-grossing film of all time by a musical group. It has arguably achieved cult status. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? Tell the Catbot what you feel like watching and it picks from the whole catalogue, or browse by genre, country and year.

Lists: Korean thrillers worth the evening · Anime films beyond Studio Ghibli · Slow films for a rainy night · Horror that unsettles instead of startling · Series you can finish in a weekend · Nordic crime worth the subtitles · Good films that end in under 90 minutes · Documentaries that play like thrillers

Loading movies…

What should I watch?