THE five woman British pop group, Spice Girls, is about to shoot its first film, Spice - the Movie, directed by Bob Spiers, the performers announced during the Cannes film festival yesterday.
The movie, to be shot in London next month, will be released at the end of the year and will recount "five days in the life of the group," Emma, Victoria, Gery, Mel C and Mel B, told a noisy press conference.
"There will be fun, love, adventure, mystery and songs," the Spice Girls said, often speaking all at once, joking and trying to persuade journalists to sing a song. But they gave few other details of the film, in which Richard Grant will play the role of the group's manager.
The Spice Girls, who sold 12 million copies of their album "Spice", said their philosophy was "woman power vibration, to be positive, caring, independent, respectful, to follow our instincts and to have a good time".
Also at the Cannes festival the French President, Jacques Chirac, enmeshed in a snap parliamentary election campaign turned up for a high profile luncheon surrounded by glamorous cinema stars.
French presidents generally try to remain above politics during campaigns, but that did not prevent Chirac from presiding over a glittery luncheon at the Cannes Palais des Festivals yesterday, where he sat between actresses Isabelle Adjani of France and Gong Li of China.
Italian tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, gave his first recital at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House for 18 years last night.
Pavarotti's programme included excerpts from Puccini's Tosca as well as works by Donizetti Bizet, Beethoven, Scarlatti, Schubert and Tosti.
Tickets for the performance, which was sold out, cost £140 each.
It was Pavarotti's final appearance at the Royal Opera House before it closes this summer for redevelopment. Pavarotti (61) arrived in London on Friday accompanied by his girlfriend of three years, Nicoletta Mantovani (27), for whom he left his wife, Adua, and their three children.