December 15 [16:45 EDT] -- The Spice Girls' "Spiceworld" made its debut tonight at the Empire movie theater at London's Leicester Square. The $25 million plus flick was shot around London last summer under a veil of secrecy at venues including The Ministry of Sound nightclub, an amphitheater shopping mall (doubling as Milan, Italy), and Royal Albert Hall.

The mostly British cast is anchored by Richard E. Grant, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Jonathan Ross, Jennifer Saunders, Michael Barrymore, Richard Briers, Richard O'Brien and Roger Moore along with brief appearances from Elton John, Elvis Costello, Bob Geldof, Bob Hoskins and Meatloaf, among others.

Richard Grant kept a journal during the filmmaking, which was published in the London Telegraph. He reported that Elton John, who plays himself in the flick, accepted the invitation to appear because he liked The Spice Girls: "They are what they are,' he said. 'No side. No pretence. Just wild, unstoppable energy.

Indeed,

Grant's journal does give the impression of unstoppable energy, along with humor and genuine camaraderie among the girls. The reports portray them as somewhat overwhelmed at all the attention, but totally unphased by the likes of media blow-by-blow reports and nude photos courtesy of past boyfriends.

The film, of course, portrays nothing but good, wholesome fun. In a nutshell, Spice World is a glamorized and sanitized version of the group's whirlwind life at the top of the pop charts, shades of the Beatles' "A Hard Days Night." Like it's predecessor, the basic plot evolves around the girls just wanting to have fun while those in charge attempt to spoil the party by making them work. In this case, their manager -- played by Grant -- spends most of the movie tearing his hair out trying to get the girls on track.

Spiceworld follows the girls through Top Of The Pops and other performances as well as yacht cruises, mansions, photo shoots and the like pursued by screaming

fans, TV crews and a particularly villainous tabloid newspaper photographer.

There's also an array of 'typical' music industry types. Roger Moore puts in a cameo as a record executive who always appears on the phone, each time seen petting different animals including cats, rabbits and piglets. And then there's the (perhaps) unexpected -- fantasy sequences apparently featuring extra-terrestrial spacecraft.

According to the PA News, there's at least one telling moment in the film that may well have echoed real life a little too closely. "You don't have a life, you have a schedule!" Grant yells, and starts a fight that threatens to break up the band. Months after that scene was shot, the Spice Girls fired manager Simon Fuller while rumors of in-fighting among the girls circulated through the press. Oddly enough, the movie was written by Fuller's brother Kim.

One face that won't be seen is Gary Glitter, who ended up on the cutting room floor after being accused

of possessing child pornography last month. Glitter was also playing himself in a scene described by Grant as "Gary Glitter and the Chippendale-cloned Dreamboys" singing his hit "I'm the Leader of the Gang" in a duet with the girls. But alas, his "black sequinned catsuit, platforms and boot-black aircraft carrier of hair" will not be seen by the masses.