RT

pellis, just change the filter and don't look back. No more oil is going to spill out than if you did it with an empty oil pan.
Just do it and don't worry about it.

Zero-60in5

One thing you may have tried if you didn't have an oil filter wrench that would fit--an old garage trick: Take a long screwdriver and punch it through the filter. You can use it to twist the filter off. It is somewhat messy, but since the filter is not sitting over anything important, it's easy to clean up if you have a pan underneath it.

When I changed my filter, I didn't have a wrench and needed a friend to help me muscle it off. It took some doing, but we managed.