Big Boys creator Jack Rooke has revealed that he is developing a “fun comedy drama” about the Spice Girls, with a script already having been written.
The BAFTA-winning writer discussed the potential project while appearing on BBC Sounds podcast Sidetracked With Annie And Nick this week, where he was filling in for Nick Grimshaw alongside Annie Macmanus.
Asked about the prospect of telling the Spice Girls’ story, Rooke confirmed that he had been working on something that he sees as going beyond the traditional music biopic format.
He described it as a “fun comedy drama”, adding that a script had been written by himself and a “lovely little group of gals and gays”.
Rooke stressed that the project has not yet been confirmed for production, but said discussions are ongoing and that he hopes the Spice Girls themselves will approve of what they have developed.
Watch the BBC Sounds clip below.
Rooke said the group represented the first time he remembered seeing working-class women openly pursuing huge ambitions within British pop culture, while acknowledging that critics have long pointed to the enormous commercial machine that surrounded the band.
Rooke then compared the idea to Sam Mendes’ forthcoming four-film Beatles project.
“If we’re gonna have these four films about The Beatles,” he said, “then I do think we need a big comedy romp about the Spice Girls.”
He jokingly admitted he had already said too much, before describing such a project as his “dream and desire”.
Rooke is best known for creating and writing Channel 4’s acclaimed semi-autobiographical comedy Big Boys, starring Dylan Llewellyn and Jon Pointing.
The series concluded with its third season in 2025, with Rooke telling NME at the time that he wanted the show to depict young people and male friendship in a way that resisted familiar television “tribes and tropes”.
A Spice Girls screen project would, of course, not be the group’s first trip to the movies. All five members starred in the knowingly absurd 1997 musical comedy Spice World, which also featured cameos from the likes of Elton John, Bob Geldof, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie and Meat Loaf.
There have been intermittent reports about another Spice Girls film over the years, including claims in 2021 that a Spice World sequel was being considered, although that project never materialised.
Melanie C has previously backed the idea of a film of the band’s story. Asked by NME in 2020 whether she would like to see a proper Spice Girls biopic, she replied: “I think it would be brilliant, and there’s a real appetite for it. The story of the Spice Girls would be perfect for something like that.”
Rooke’s comments arrive during the 30th anniversary year of the group’s debut single ‘Wannabe’, which was released in July 1996 and launched Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell into global fame.
Despite continued speculation, a full reunion tour has not happened for the anniversary. Mel C said in March that the group “want to do something” together but ruled out a 2026 tour, while Mel B subsequently said a reunion trek was “not happening”.
Four members – Beckham, Chisholm, Bunton and Halliwell – were nevertheless seen singing ‘Viva Forever’ together earlier this year, while Mel B and Mel C later reunited on stage for ‘Spice Up Your Life’ in Leeds.
