Whoopi Goldberg Says Sister Act 3 Has to ‘Make Some Readjustments’ After Maggie Smith’s Death: ‘It’s a Shift’

Maggie Smith’s death led to “readjustments” in the development of Sister Act 3, Whoopi Goldberg revealed.

During a Wednesday, Nov. 6, appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the 68-year-oldThe View co-host gave an update on making the third installment of the Sister Act franchise, telling Fallon that her friend and former costar’s death at age 89 prompted changes.

“We’re having to make some readjustments because we just lost Maggie Smith, as you know,” Goldberg said. “And so, we will get it done. We will get it done. It’s just, it’s a shift.”

Goldberg previously told PEOPLE in March at the Garden of Laughs event at The Theater at Madison Square Garden that the long-awaited third Sister Act film was “still on the way” and “percolating.”

She said at the time that the team behind the film was “in the process of writing the script,” and responded “yes and no” when asked if she was handling the script herself.

“It’s hard to do everything,” the EGOT winner said. “And I like to think that I can, but I’ve come to the understanding that I can’t do as much stuff simultaneously as I’d like to.”

Sister Act was released in 1992, while its sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit was released in 1993, both starring Goldberg as lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier, who ended up in witness protection as a nun in a California convent.

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Goldberg has since handed out invitations to a few famous friends to get involved in the project, like when she asked Sheryl Lee Ralph to “come be part” of the movie earlier this year.

Before Smith’s death in September, Goldberg also teased that she was “holding the part of Mother Superior” for the star during a January 2023 appearance on the U.K.’s Loose Women talk show.

“So, if you need me to come over here and shoot it and do whatever we have to do, we will do whatever you want us to do,” she added. “But we don’t want to do it without you, Maggie.”

Smith, a two-time Academy Award winner, died Sept. 27. Goldberg shared a tribute dedicated to her on Instagram, alongside an image of the pair on set of their iconic film.

“Maggie Smith was a great woman and a brilliant actress,” Goldberg wrote. “I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to work with the ‘one-of-a-kind.’ My heartfelt condolences go out to the family…RIP.”