The Sister Act films are beloved staples from the 1990s. The franchise helped cement Whoopi Goldberg as a Hollywood a-lister and has become a treasured family film. Plans to create a third installment in the series have been rumored for years, with Tyler Perry now attached to produce it. With Perry at the helm, he and Goldberg are now looking to lock in their lead and have their eyes set on Tiffany Haddish.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production boss Sean Bailey announced that Goldberg is confirmed to be returning to her role as Sister Mary Clarence, aka Deloris Van Cartier. Thirty years since the original, Disney is looking to bring new life to the franchise and has Tyler Perry on board to produce alongside Goldberg. The film will be available on the Disney+ streaming service.
In 2018 Insecure co-EP Regina Hicks and former showrunner Karin Gist were confirmed to be developing the script. During an interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Goldberg turned down a fan request to do a sequel for the film Jumping Jack Flash. “That’s not the sequel I want to do,” said Goldberg before confirming that she wants to focus on a 3rd installment of Sister Act. Perry chimed in, saying he would love Goldberg and Tiffany Haddish to do Sister Act 3 together.
This would not be the first time the trio have worked together. According to The Daily Mail, “Goldberg starred in Perry’s ambitious screen adaptation of Ntzoke Shange’s “For Colored Girls” in 2010. She also joined Tiffany Haddish and Tika Sumpter for “Tyler Perry’s Nobody’s Fool” in 2018.”
Sister Act is wildly praised now, but it took a while to get the initial film off the ground and get people to love it. The first script was written in the late ’80s with a much different lead in mind, Bette Midler. Midler turned it down, and eventually, Goldberg was cast to bring her comedy chops to the character. The film follows Goldberg’s Deloris Van Cartier; a lounge singer forced to go into hiding in a nun commune due to a hit being put out against her. The film did well in box offices but really thrived on television, where repeat watches on cable made people really fall in love with Goldberg and the crazy cast of singing nuns. A sequel soon followed, to much fanfare.
For many, it was their first introduction to the likes of Kathy Najimy, Jennifer Love-Hewitt, and Lauryn Hill. A stage version followed in the ’00s, with a successful starring run by Raven Symone, who has also been rumored over the years to star in a sequel or reboot of the franchise if it was to happen. Speaking on Raven Symone’s broadway portrayal of Delois back in 2012, Goldberg said, “Finding an actress who can play Deloris in Sister Act is no easy feat. She’s got to sing like an angel, dance her heart out, and land some really big laughs and, trust me, doing it all in a habit is not easy! Luckily for us, Raven is more than up to the challenge, and I think audiences are going to be wowed by her performance.”
