‘Sister Act’ Remake in the Works From the Writers of ‘Legally Blonde’

Today in odd remake choices: Disney is developing a remake of Sister Act, the delightful 1992 hit musical film starring Whoopi Goldberg as a lounge singer who seeks refuge with a group of nuns. It’s no Sister Act 2, but it’s still fun. And speaking of fun, the new remake comes from the writers of Legally Blonde, an oft-underrated comedy treasure.

THR reports that Disney is developing the remake with Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Karen McCullah, who also wrote the screenplay for The House Bunny — which might be one of the only decent Happy Madison films post-90s. Alli Shearmur, who recently produced Disney’s live-action Cinderella, is producing the new Sister Act, which brings a lot of strong women to the table. Hopefully they can wrangle a great female director to really bring it home.

The original 1992 film centered on Goldberg’s Deloris Van Cartier, a lounge singer on the run from her mobster boyfriend. Deloris enters the witness protection program, where she’s sent to live with nuns and uses the time (wisely, so wisely!) to help them infuse their religious singing with a little more secular style. Deloris, under the name Sister Mary Clarence, takes the mediocre choir and turns them into an increasingly popular attraction.

The report calls the film both a “remake” and a “new installment,” so I’m not sure if Disney is planning on bringing Whoopi Goldberg back for another round or utilizing some of the previous stars from the series, like Kathy Najimy and Maggie Smith.