FILM · 1997 · UK
Spice World
67 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (67)
- #001
Several of the Spice Girls admitted in interviews that their film was not as good or as strong as they had wanted, because they had such a packed schedule that they could only set aside a short period (two months) to shoot it. Looking back now, however, they said they were proud to have made a film at the peak of their fame.
- #002
Two real-life deaths after filming led to edits being made to the film. Princess Diana and Gianni Versace were mentioned in the film because they were alive when it was shot, but they died before it was released.
- #003
The film is listed among the 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made in THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE, a book by Golden Raspberry Awards founder John Wilson.
- #004
On 14 July 2014, the original bus used in the film went on permanent display at Island Harbour Marina on the Isle of Wight, England.
- #005
Richard E. Grant took his role in the film for the money and because his pre-teen daughter was a Spice Girls fan.
- #006
Gary Oldman wanted to appear in the film because his sons were into the Spice Girls at the time, but his schedule prevented him from doing so.
- #007
According to his memoirs, Sir Roger Moore shot his long cameo in a single day and, like the other cameo actors, knew nothing about the film beyond his own part.
- #008
Five months after the film opened in the UK, Geri Halliwell left the Spice Girls.
- #009
The film set a record for the biggest Super Bowl weekend opening ever, with a box office take of $10,527,222.
- #010
PolyGram financed the film's budget and had planned to release it in both the US and the UK on 26 December 1997. However, the company was in financial difficulty and could not commit to a US release. As a cost-cutting measure, PolyGram decided instead to keep the local rights and find a distributor to release the film in the US. A rough cut was shown to various distributors, including New Line Cinema, Miramax Films, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, MGM and Universal Pictures (which later bought PolyGram in 1999). All either turned down the offer or made PolyGram unsatisfactory offers. In the end, PolyGram sold Spice World to Columbia Pictures. Some last-minute changes by Columbia, however, pushed the original US release from 26 December 1997 to 23 January 1998.
- #011
Although he played a fictional manager, Richard E. Grant represented the Spice Girls on stage at their long-awaited reunion in 2007.
- #012
Sir Elton John appeared in the film. The girls were friends with him in real life. In 1997, the Spice Girls sang "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Sir Elton John on the television event An Audience with Elton John (1997).
- #013
Sir Roger Moore, who came to the set on his day off, greatly appreciated Richard E. Grant for feeding him lines during his telephone conversations.
- #014
The closing scenes hint at a sequel/second film. In the film's press interviews, interviewers asked the Spice Girls about the subject, and there were also some hints. Later, in 2010, Emma Bunton said in an interview that (despite the film's bad reviews) there had been plans for a sequel/second film shortly after its release, but Geri Halliwell's departure largely prevented them from moving forward with the project. Bunton was quoted as saying: "We would have liked to make another film but after Spice World there was an album, then a tour, then Geri left, so it didn't happen."
- #015
Jason Isaacs had a cut miniature role as a very pretentious writer and poet.
- #016
"Spice Force Five" shares many similarities with "Fox Force Five", the fictional television pilot in Pulp Fiction (1994).
- #017
The film is regarded as a cult item, described as a brilliant film that mocks both the star system and cinema clichés while winking at the popular culture of its era — even as a masterpiece of the parody genre.
- #018
It is believed that one of the reasons for Geri Halliwell-Horner's departure from the group was the bad reviews of the film. When Geri was asked about this, she said she had as many as 10 reasons for leaving the film, but that the film's bad reviews were NOT one of them.
- #019
Frank Bruno was originally cast as the tour bus driver, but he left the film after a security guard stopped his son Franklin from having his picture taken with the girls on set.
- #020
Bob Spiers was working on the Disney film That Darn Cat (1997) in America at the height of the Spice Girls' popularity. When the job was first offered to him, he had never heard of the group, until his friend Jennifer Saunders advised him to take it. Unaware of what they looked like, he came to a meeting with them at a hotel in New York City.
- #021
Filming involved several fourteen-hour shooting sessions and a constant, intense media presence due to the Spice Girls' enormous popularity at the time.
- #022
The film was reportedly greenlit only a few months after the Spice Girls' massive success. They were recognized as the biggest pop phenomenon to emerge from the UK since the Beatles in the 1960s.
- #023
Elton John has a miniature in this film. The original filmed cut of the movie referenced Gianni Versace and Princess Diana in the present tense, and both had to be edited out because of their untimely deaths. Strangely, John (after filming his cameo) attended Versace's funeral alongside Diana. John later gave a famous performance at Diana's funeral, where he played "Candle in the Wind."
- #024
John Cleese turned down Michael Barrymore's cameo.
- #025
When the Spice Girls visit a child in the hospital, Victoria suggests that Geri try taking her top off. The line was written as a nod to Geri Halliwell, who had been a model who posed nude in photo shoots before becoming a Spice Girl.
- #026
Sir Roger Moore knew nothing about the Spice Girls when he was approached to appear in this film. Victoria Beckham asked him for a signed photograph, and he agreed to do the project.
- #027
The Spice Girls were also recording their second album, "Spiceworld," during production.
- #028
Both Emma Bunton and Naoko Mori (Nicola) appeared in Absolutely Fabulous; Bunton as herself, and Mori as Saffron's neurotic friend Sarah, who ends up following Bunton.
- #029
The mysterious murder scene featuring Baby Spice appears to be a parody of Dame Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.
- #030
In the scene where all the girls go their separate ways and end up in the same place, the film Geri watches and cries to was The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), starring Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin. The film also features a young, handsome, unknown actor named Kirk Douglas.
- #031
Several of the Spice Girls admitted they wished they had not filmed the 'fictional origin' scene (the scene of the group forming in a café), realizing it would mislead many fans, especially those who did not know the real origin.
- #032
According to an interview, the scene in which the girls comment on the royal family as they pass in front of Buckingham Palace (in their bus) was the scene that referenced Princess Diana in the present tense. The line had to be edited because of Diana's tragic death.
- #033
This film was one of Dominic West's first acting roles, in which he played a photographer.
- #034
Victoria Beckham became engaged to English footballer David Beckham in the month this film was released in the US.
- #035
This film has two James Bond connections: Sir Roger Moore, who played James Bond from 1973 to 1985, played Clifford's boss. Geri Halliwell had failed an audition for a role in The World Is Not Enough (1999), and in one scene Victoria Beckham dressed as Honey Rider from Dr. No (1962). False rumors circulated that Victoria Beckham would appear alongside Pierce Brosnan in a James Bond film.
- #036
This film appears on critic Roger Ebert's "Most Hated" list. For months after watching it, he considered it the worst film of 1998, until he finally saw Armageddon (1998), which took the title. This film nonetheless remained on his list of the year's worst.
- #037
According to producer Barnaby Thompson, the country's new Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was planned to appear in this film. He was to hold a press conference outside 10 Downing Street to reveal who his favorite Spice Girl was, but his speech was interrupted. It never happened.
- #038
Although the Spice Girls were extremely popular, the film had no room to grow at the box office, largely because of the 'heat' of Titanic (1997). Strangely, Spice Girl Emma Bunton was said to have dated Leonardo DiCaprio (that film's main star) in 1997.
- #039
A scene in which the Spice Girls performed "Mama" at the Albert Hall was cut from this film. It was later shown as an extra scene at the end of the VHS release.
- #040
In the film's photo-shoot scene, each Spice Girl names her fantasy icons. Victoria lists Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Kate Jackson/Sabrina Duncan (Charlie's Angels), Ursula Andress/Honey Ryder (from James Bond's Dr. No) and Baby Spice. Mel B. lists Bob Marley, Cave Girl, Diana Ross (The Supremes) and Ginger Spice. Emma lists Farrah Fawcett/Jill Munroe (Charlie's Angels), Olivia Newton-John/Sandy Olsson (Grease), Twiggy/Mod Girl and Scary Spice. Mel C. lists Jaclyn Smith/Kelly Garrett (Charlie's Angels), David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust, John Travolta/Danny Zuko (Grease) and Posh Spice. Geri lists Elvis Presley, Wonder Woman, Marilyn Monroe and Sporty Spice.
- #041
In one scene, the character Kevin McMaxford (Barry Humphries) discusses a plan that would cause the Spice Girls to break up. In real life, Geri Halliwell was the first to leave the group, shortly after the film's release, and the remaining four Spice Girls split in 2000 to go their separate ways.
- #042
Geri stated that the largest fish in the world is the manta ray. This is incorrect; the largest is the whale shark, which reaches twelve metres in length.
- #043
The film includes a fantasy scene in which all the Spice Girls live hard lives as mothers. In the end, all of the Spice Girls did become mothers to biological children in real life; in fact, Mel B and Victoria each had their first child just one year after the film's release, thirteen days apart. As of 2020, Victoria has four children, Mel B has three, Geri and Emma have two each, and Mel C has one (she was also the last to become a mother). All of them also have at least one child born outside marriage.
- #044
Filming took place in London, England, during six of the eight shooting weeks, as well as at Twickenham Studios and at more than forty famous British landmarks.
- #045
A large "peace" sign is prominently displayed on the rear of the Spice Bus. This is a reference to the famous Union Jack dress Geri Halliwell wore during the group's performance at the 1997 Brit Awards; that dress also featured a large "peace" sign on its back.
- #046
Several new Spice Girls songs, such as "Viva Forever", were edited during the post-production stage.
- #047
Roger Moore and Alan Cumming both appeared in James Bond films: Roger Moore was the third actor to play James Bond, and Alan Cumming played Boris Kleshenko in GoldenEye (1995). In the photo-shoot scene, Victoria Beckham dresses as Honey Ryder from Dr. No (1962). Geri Horner had unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in The World Is Not Enough (1999).
- #048
Many people say the film has the same, or a similar, "zany" vein as the Beatles' film Help! (1965) and the TV series The Monkees (1965). Oddly, both Davy Jones (of the Monkees) and Mel B carried parts on the British soap opera Coronation Street (1960) when they began acting, before they became famous.
- #049
The TV series Charlie's Angels (1976) is referenced twice in the film. First, when the girls (Mel C, Victoria and Emma) dress like them during a photo shoot; later, when the show's distinctive music plays during the bus's closing sequence.
- #050
Melanie C is the only Spice Girl who is barefoot on one of the posters, since wearing trainers is her trademark. In some of the portrait posters, Emma is also wearing shoes.
- #051
Filming ended on 1 August 1997, five days before Geri Halliwell's 25th birthday.
- #052
On the back cover of some of the home videos, Emma Bunton strikes her signature 'silent/quiet' Baby Spice pose, and in the film Victoria strikes this pose while dressing like Emma during the photo shoot. Oddly, Emma never strikes it at any point in the film.
- #053
Although it is not known whether the Spice Girls' own 'alternative versions' are also teen films, this film is sometimes labelled a 'teen film', even though none of the Spice Girls were teenagers during their success; the youngest member, Emma Bunton, was already twenty when they first achieved success in mid-1996.
- #054
A scene was filmed in which the Spice Girls and Clifford eat pizza and drink Pepsi at Dogscoff Manor. Footage from this sequence appears in a sticker book based on the film.
- #055
When Emma tells one of the Dream Boys about the toys on her bed, she mentions Woody, Buzz and Alien, a reference to the characters from Toy Story (1995).
- #056
Richard O'Brien and Meat Loaf both appeared in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). O'Brien and Barry Humphries also both appeared in the film's sequel, Shock Treatment (1981).
- #057
The Spice Bus scene, a parody of Speed (1994), featured a bus rigged to explode if it dropped below fifty miles per hour. Keanu Reeves, who played Jack Traven in that film, had starred alongside Lori Petty in Point Break (1991). Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham and Geri Halliwell-Horner all auditioned for the lead role in Tank Girl (1995), which went to Petty.
- #058
For the scene in which the Spice Girls' bus jumps over a toll bridge, the filmmakers prepared an animated sequence showing the Spice Bus jumping and added recorded vocals of the girls screaming, since jumping a vehicle over a toll bridge is dangerous in real life. A cartoon slide-whistle sound effect can be heard as the bus jumps.
- #059
Meat Loaf and George Wendt are two of the few American actors in the cast of this UK-based film.
- #060
Richard Briers worked for one day.
- #061
Famous film critic Roger Ebert was one of the film's harshest critics. Comparing it to A Hard Day's Night (1964), he said, "Of course the big difference is that The Beatles were talented - let's face it, the Spice Girls could be duplicated by any five women under the age of 30 standing in line at Dunkin Donuts."
- #062
Bob Geldof and Bob Hoskins had previously appeared together in Pink Floyd: The Wall.
- #063
In the photo shoot scene, Victoria dresses like Honey Ryder in Dr. No (1962). Sir Roger Moore (Chief) played James Bond from 1973 to 1985. Alan Cumming appeared in GoldenEye (1995). Geri Halliwell-Horner had unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in The World Is Not Enough (1999).
- #064
Cast member Meat Loaf died just one day before Emma Bunton's 46th birthday in 2022. (Bunton herself noted this on social media.)
- #065
Naoko Mori plays a pregnant character who eventually gives birth (with the Spice Girls' support). Oddly enough, she has no biological children in real life. All five Spice Girls have biological children.
- #066
Clifford (Richard E. Grant) is the Spice Girls' fictional manager. In real life, the Spice Girls' manager is Simon Fuller.
- #067
Mark E. Smith was considered for a cameo in the film.
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