If ever the timing were pitch perfect for a Sister Act remake, it would be now. Universal's Pitch Perfect 2's growing box office haul suggests a strong appetite for musical comedies, so it should come as no surprise that Disney's looking to get back in the habit by bringing Sister Act back for a new installment.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that Disney has enlisted writing duo Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith and Karen McCullah to pen a screenplay for a third Sister Act movie. Details on the project are scarce for the time being, as THR notes there's nothing known about the plot just yet, and there's no word on whether or not Sister Act star Whoopi Goldberg would be involved in some way. But the site does refer to this movie as a remake, so we might expect something similar to the original film, in terms of the general story.
For those who haven't seen Sister Act, the 1992 musical comedy centered on Whoopi Goldberg's character Deloris, a Reno lounge singer who witnesses a murder and has to go into witness protection while awaiting trial. She's placed in a rundown Catholic parish where she puts her musical talents to work in sprucing up the convent's choir, during which time she befriends the group of generous and unsuspecting nuns, who have no idea she's a lounge singer. Part of her efforts to improve the choir involves incorporating hit oldies tunes with church music...
Between the humor, the music and a great cast -- which included Maggie Smith, Harvey Keitel and Kathy Najimy, in addition to Whoopi Goldberg -- Sister Act went on to be a box office success, grossing close to $140 million domestically. The film went on to spawn a sequel (1993's Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit) and a Tony Award nominated West End/Broadway stage musical.
Again, it's not hard to see why Disney would want to bring Sister Act back, especially when we take into account the success of musical comedies like Pitch Perfect and Fox's Glee. The remake-factor aside, there's cause to be optimistic here, when we take into account the involvement of Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith and Karen McCullah. The writing duo co-wrote Legally Blonde and the Shakespeare-inspired story for 10 Things I Hate About You.
With Disney behind the remake, we're imagining the film to be about as family-friendly as the original. But we'll have to wait and see what other details emerge as this project gets going.
