‘Sister Act 3’ got a boost from ‘Hocus Pocus 2,’ Whoopi Goldberg tells Kathy Najimy

Nearly 30 years after the premiere of “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,” Whoopi Goldberg has officially announced that a third film in the series will occur. And she says that “Hocus Pocus 2” had at least something to do with it.

Kathy Najimy, who played Mary Sanderson in the “Hocus Pocus” films and Sister Mary Patrick in both “Sister Act” movies, was a guest on “The View” last week. She asked her good friend Goldberg about the possibility of a third “Sister Act” flick.

“The View” shared a clip of the conversation on Twitter.

“@WhoopiGoldberg and @kathynajimy dish on the possibility of #SisterAct3,” tweeted @TheView, “‘It is happening!'”

“I haven’t heard anything formal about ‘3’ yet — I’ve heard rumblings of it,” Najimy said. “I mean, I think it would be a blast of fun. I really look forward to the nuns that we were with, that are still with us, seeing them again. They were fantastic. And, of course, Whoopi, Wendy (Makkena, who played Sister Mary Robert) and I …”

Then she asked, “Where is that at? Is that happening?”

“It is happening,” Goldberg replied. “We’re getting a script at the end of the month. It took a little while, but it’s happening. And you all helped it happen, I think. Because they brought ‘Hocus Pocus’ back, they finally said, ‘We might as well. Put those nuns back out there and see if they have any juice.'”

In 2020, Disney officially announced that “Sister Act 3” was in development. Like “Hocus Pocus 2,” the studio anticipates releasing it as a streaming film on Disney+.

Goldberg also confirmed that producer Tyler Perry is on board. He provided an update on the project when he appeared on “The View” in September.

“I loved the idea of us making this happen, but the Hollywood system moves a little slower than I’d like to,” Perry said. “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 to get it going.”

In a 2021 interview, Najimy said she looked forward to reprising her role as Sister Mary Patrick in the film. However, neither she nor Goldberg confirmed her participation in the movie during the episode of “The View.”