Spice World is a 1997 British musical comedy film directed by Bob Spiers and written by Kim Fuller.

The film—made in a similar vein to the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night (1964)—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.

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.

At the heart of it, the constant rehearsals, travelling, publicity appearances, and other burdens of celebrity affect the girls on a personal level, preventing them from spending much time with their best friend Nicola, who is expecting her first child soon.

When Damien sees the girls standing over him, he tells them that they have made him realise he's "been living a meaningless lie", and he goes after McMaxford, who is subsequently fired in a "Jacuzzi scandal".

However, the girls have one more obstacle to overcome: a London policeman charges them with "dangerous driving, criminal damage, flying a bus without a licence, and frightening the pigeons".

The girls talk to the audience, commenting on "those two in the back row snogging" and on one's dress, and discuss their film, just minutes before the bomb on their bus explodes.

[7] Director Bob Spiers had been working in America on the Disney film That Darn Cat at the peak of the Girls' popularity.

[8] Frank Bruno was originally cast as the tour bus driver, but withdrew after a security guard prevented his son Franklin having an on-set photo taken with the girls.

Mentions of Princess Diana and scenes featuring the designer Gianni Versace had to be edited out in post-production following their deaths shortly before the release of the film.

"[10] Glam rock singer Gary Glitter filmed a four-minute cameo appearance as himself, but shortly before release, he was arrested on child pornography offences.

The Spice Girls and the production team agreed that his cameo should be deleted from the final print, although the band's performance of Glitter's "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" was retained.

Film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave Spice World a rating of 35% based on reviews from 68 critics, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 10 and a critic consensus that reads "Spice World's lack of cohesive plot will likely lose most viewers, but for fans of the titular girl group there's more than enough fun to be had in their wacky -- albeit superficial -- whirlwind of an adventure.

"[32] Writing for Sight and Sound, in a positive review, Mark Sinker placed it alongside the Monkees' 1968 cult film Head.

He went on to say that it "sends up the amiable idiocy of pop packaging - and the slow witted mass-media response to it" and it was "tirelessly generous in its energy".

Re-watching Spice World in 2019, Alice Vincent of The Daily Telegraph was "pleasantly surprised" that the jokes had not aged badly and found the sets and costuming had a "now-retro charm".

Vincent stated: "It's an irreverent, lighthearted romp that captured the brash, patriotic positivity of a London swept up in Cool Britannia.

"[35] Writing for The New York Times in 2019, Eleanor Stanford found the film to be "much smarter and more self-aware than I once gave it credit for," particularly enjoying how the Spice Girls poked fun at themselves.

Stanford concluded: "The Spice Girls were absolutely working the (very sexist) system, and making a lot of money off it, but they were doing it slyly, with a wink and a grin.

[42][43] [44] Several commentators consider the film to be a cult classic, with Sara David of Vice naming the movie a "deranged, postmodern masterpiece".

[47] On 18 July 2014, the Spice Bus used in the film was put on permanent display at Island Harbour Marina, on the Isle of Wight of England.

[50] On 13 June 2019, it was reported that Paramount Animation president Mireille Soria had greenlit the project, with all five members of the band returning.

The project will be produced by Simon Fuller, with Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith writing the screenplay, and will feature both previous and original songs.