Disney announced back in December 2020 that a Sister Act 3 is in the works. And even though it’s been nearly two years since the movie was revealed to be in development and filming for the installment hasn’t started yet, a recent comment from producer Tyler Perry confirmed that the project is still moving forward.
During his appearance on The View on September 22nd, Perry made it clear that Sister Act 3 is still happening but admitted that things are moving slower than he’d like to.
“I love the idea of us making this happen but you know, the Hollywood system moves a little slower than I’d like to,” Perry explained of why the movie has yet to begin its principal photography. “So we’ve got a good script. We’re off to a great start. We’re just trying to get everybody moving in the right direction so we can get it going.”
The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg, who is set to reprise his role as Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act 3, chimed in that it has “taken 20 years” before the third installment of the film series was greenlit, suggesting that everyone involved in the new sequel are taking their time to make sure that they are doing the project right.
“They were sort of lukewarm for the longest time [about making the movie]. They said nobody wanted to see it,” Goldberg recalled. “And then Tyler went in and said, ‘I want to see it.’ Next thing I knew, we were on. That’s the power of TP.”
You can watch Perry and Goldberg talk about the film in the video below:
Sister Act 3 cast
In addition to Goldberg, Sister Act 3 is also expected to star Jenifer Lewis, who played Michelle in the original movie and appeared as a Las Vegas backup singer in 1993’s Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. During Lewis’ appearance in The View earlier this month, Goldberg reminded her that they will be working together again in Sister Act 3.
“You know we’re still going to do that movie,” Goldberg told Lewis as she sat down on the Hot Topics table. “And I’d do everything I can to work with her because she’s fun.”
Lewis said she was “so ready” to film the sequel and revealed that it was her who taught Goldberg how to sing on the movie set.
“They were going to use my voice and I told Whoopi, ‘Look, you just get in this mirror with the two of us, and you just get a hairbrush and pretend that we’re 15 years old singing Gladys Knight and the Pips,’ and Whoopi did it, she sang her little booty off,” Lewis recalled.
When will Sister Act 3 be released?
Sister Act 3 doesn’t have an exact release date yet, but its director, Tim Federle, implied back in April that the sequel might shoot before the end of 2022. “I think the Sister Act franchise is a big priority to the studio,” Federle said of Disney during an interview with Collider that time. “Script’s coming along and I think Whoopi is really excited. Now it’s just about schedules and chips falling where they may.”
Federle, who is set to direct the sequel from a script by Madhuri Shekar, added in the interview that helming Sister Act 3 is a great honor. “The opportunity to sort of take a franchise like Sister Act, the same way I was sort of handed High School Musical, it’s a complete honor and my dream is to get nuns singing all across the world,” he said.
Where can I watch Sister Act 3?
Sister Act 3 will stream on Disney+. It’s not clear yet whether it will be shown in theaters.
About Sister Act
Released in 1992, the original Sister Act movie introduces Goldberg’s Deloris Van Cartier, a worldly lounge singer who is forced to join a convent and pose as a nun after witnessing a mob crime. The movie was a box-office hit, grossing $231 million worldwide against a budget of just $31 million.
It spawned a 1993 sequel titled Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, which saw the return of Goldberg as Deloris and other original cast members, including Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, and Mary Wickes.
With the passing of so many of her nun co-stars, Goldberg was initially not open to doing a Sister Act 3 movie. “It’s not Sister Act without them,” said the actress of her late co-stars in a 2013 appearance on Watch What Happens Live!
However, two years later, Goldberg had a change of heart. When asked in 2013 on the same show about a potential Sister Act 3, the actress said: “I generally say no to that, because so many of the nuns have passed and it just wouldn’t feel right for me. I’m kind of old for it now. [But] that’s not to say I wouldn’t do it, but it feels like there’s a new generation for Sister Act and so maybe I can be a nun now.”