Everything We Know About the New Film

Sing it, sister! Whoopi Goldberg is donning her habit once again as nun Sister Mary Clarence in the highly anticipated third Sister Act film.

Goldberg starred in the original 1992 Sister Act movie as lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier. After Deloris sees her boyfriend kill someone while living in Reno, Nevada, she enters the witness protection program and subsequently has to pretend to be a nun named Sister Mary Clarence.

While in hiding, Deloris (now Mary Clarence) turns the church’s choir around and gives them something to sing about while helping to bring life back to the community.

The film earned over $230 million at the box office, quickly leading to a second music-filled movie, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, which was released one year later.

In the sequel, Deloris is called upon by Mother Superior (Maggie Smith) to slip back into her role as Sister May Clarence in order to help save St. Francis Academy in San Francisco. Goldberg reprised her role alongside fellow nuns Sister Mary Patrick (Kathy Najimy) and Sister Mary Robert (Wendy Makkena) as well as a group of the original ladies from the choir.

The second movie also introduced fans to rising stars Lauryn Hill, Jennifer Love Hewitt and more, who played students in Mary Clarence’s music class.

Nearly a decade after the first movie hit theaters, a Broadway musical based on the original story premiered in 2011. Six years later, Goldberg was joined by her nun sisters for an epic reunion on The View.

During the September 2017 appearance, which featured Najimy and Makkena, Smith called in to share a heartfelt message with her former castmates as she was unable to make it there in person.

“I can’t believe this is happening and it was 25 years ago. I would like to say hello to all of the nuns. I feel I must be the oldest nun left. Every single nun was wonderful,” the Harry Potter actress said in a pre-recorded video message. “I have such fond memories of when we did those crazy, crazy films. And we laughed and laughed. I can’t believe it’s been 25 years. I send you lots of love and I wish I were with you.”

Goldberg looked back fondly at her time as the iconic nun during an October 2020 appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden, shortly before revealing that she was working on Sister Act 3.

“It’s fun and it feels good,” she said of her time in the habit. “And you know, nobody’s mad. It’s just, listen — bad singing, great singing, OK singing and then nuns. What’s better than that?”

Two months later, Disney announced that the project was officially greenlit.

Scroll down for a full rundown of how Sister Act 3 is coming along: