Summary

• Spice World may be unavailable to stream, possibly due to conflicts between film and music rights, leading fans to resort to a niche DVD market.
• Despite being panned by critics, Spice World was a box office success, grossing over $100 million worldwide against a $25 million budget.
• The Spice Girls' popularity was unmatched in the '90s, with their iconic music and message of girl power resonating with fans worldwide, leading to massive success.

In the modern era, almost every movie you can think of has found its way to one platform in one way or another: streaming, renting, or purchasing. However, a few always slip through the cracks, and some of those are even large productions that took the box office and culture by storm. We are talking about the Spice World movie, which, after more than 25 years after its release, still remains unavailable to stream.

We will look at the popularity of the Spice Girls at the time and how the movie that helped define the decade was a smashing success despite being critically panned. We will examine why you can't stream Spice World over 25 years after its release.

Spice World Defined an Era of Female Empowerment

In 1997, Spice World was released just a year after the all-girl pop group's hit album 'Spice." Much of the popularity was pushed with the message of 'girl power' and the idea of independence and prioritizing friendship, as everyone knows; "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends."

The movie placed The Spice Girls – Mel B (Scary), Mel C (Sporty), Emma (Baby), Geri (Ginger), and Victoria (Posh) – preparing for a major show at the Royal Albert Hall while dealing with various comedic mishaps along the way; including dealing with a smear campaign and paparazzi. The five also helped their friend, Nicola, through her pregnancy, including one hilarious scene where they had to rush her to the hospital.

Spice World would heavily explore the themes of friendship that had already made the pop group world-famous, often breaking the third wall with a wink and a nudge to their notoriety and fanfare. The ending would also culminate in a live performance at the Royal Albert Hall, celebrating the music that had defined rebellious and fun-loving values that inspired many adolescents of the era.

While the era's fashion is now being looked at with jest, Spice World emphasized fashion with iconic costumes that captured the essence of the Spice Girls' style, which countless would imitate. Spice World, for many, felt like an event more than a typical theater outing, meant to be experienced with other friends who loved the pop group. This fact figured heavily in how commercially successful the movie was.

Spice World would be a box office success thanks to a dedicated fan base, grossing over $100 million worldwide against a $25 million budget. It would also break a US record for the highest-ever weekend debut for a Super Bowl weekend, with box office sales of $10,527,222. This is also when home media could make a substantial difference to how well a movie performed, and while the numbers are not as readily available, one can imagine that they were substantial in the '90s.

The Spice Girls' Popularity Was Unparalleled

The Spice Girl's movie was panned on release, with Roger Eberts's review being infamously scathing, claiming "The Spice Girls have no personalities; their bodies are carriers for inane chatter" while also adding, "The Spice Girls could be duplicated by any five women under the age of 30 standing in line at Dunkin' Donuts." Roger Ebert was not the only one to give it a negative review, with the movie currently sitting at 35% rotten with 69 critics on Rotten Tomatoes. This did not stop the film from being a huge financial success, with the popularity of the Spice Girls being unparalleled in pop culture in the '90s, making it a movie fans would see regardless of what critics had to say.

To put their popularity into perspective, the girl group became the most successful of all time, selling 100 million records worldwide, which made them one of the most successful British pop acts since the Beatles, though coming nowhere near the rock icons' success of over 500 million worldwide. Still, their debut album sold 30 million copies worldwide, making them the highest-selling girl group from the UK. In addition, their 1998 Spiceworld Tour was attended by an estimated 2.1 million people worldwide, once again setting the record for a girl group. In 2000, they broke another record when they landed their ninth UK #1 single, with "Holler," making them one of the few to land nine singles and the only girl group to achieve three consecutive Christmas number-one singles.

Spice World would also fare better with time, with the movie becoming a cult classic with appreciation for its lighthearted and silly celebration of an era many now look back on with rose-tinted glasses and nostalgia for their youth dancing and singing along to the Spice Girls. The movie still exists as a time capsule of the "Cool Britannia" era that is still embraced by the fans, cementing the longevity and deserved legacy of the iconic pop group. This, of course, adds to the frustration of not having the movie available for streaming.

Why Spice World Is Unavailable to Stream and Where You Can Watch It

There is a bit of uncertainty around why Spice World is still unavailable to stream in any capacity, with rumors of 'saving' it for an anniversary event being the most hopeful reason. The film was available briefly for purchase/rent through iTunes, but it was pulled a few months after being added to the platform. The most likely reason for its unavailability is conflict between the film and the music; PolyGram Filmed Entertainment owns the rights to the movie, while Universal Music Group owns the global rights to all Spice Girls music. However, while rights issues seem like the most obvious answer, it is speculation from the fandom as to why Spice World remains off digital platforms.

So, how do you watch Spice World? Until and if it hits streaming, you are looking at entering the now niche DVD market. Thankfully, the movie is still available to purchase on Amazon and other outlets, but with Amazon also selling through third-party sellers, it may not always be readily available. Spice World coming to streaming would certainly be welcome (especially with the film needing a remaster), and there will always be hope from fans of this coming to fruition. Until then, keep an eye out, and hope you can pick up a bargain copy in the wild.