New sequel alert! According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, a fourth Harold and Kumar movie is in the works, 21 years after Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle was released. We don’t have a ton of information about it yet, but it comes from Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald. Hurwitz and Schlossberg co-wrote the first movie, co-wrote and co-directed the second one, and will co-write and co-direct this new, fourth one. While no official contract exists yet, Kal Pen and John Cho are expected to be on board. There’s no word yet on whether Neil Patrick Harris will come back.
Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg and Josh Heald, the creators behind worldwide Netflix sensation Cobra Kai, have closed a deal to write a new installment of Harold & Kumar, the buddy stoner comedy movie series that was popular in the early 2000s.
Hurwitz and Schlossberg will also direct the feature, which is being developed at Lionsgate-owned Mandate Pictures. It is a full-circle moment for the gentlemen, as their Hollywood career got high thanks to writing the original movie, 2004’s Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and making their directorial debut with 2008’s Harold & Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay.
John Cho and Kal Penn, who played the title characters, are expected to return, although no deals have been made with the actors. Neil Patrick Harris was also a key component to the cast, and his involvement is unclear.
The original Harold & Kumar, directed by Danny Leiner, followed two young men, Korean American Harold Lee and Indian American Kumar Patel, who embark on a road trip to the Northeast burger joint named White Castle to satiate their munchies after they smoke some weed. But with the nearest White Castle miles away, they find themselves on a series of increasingly bizarre adventures, including getting arrested by racist cops, getting high with a cheetah, and picking up a hitchhiker who turns out to be famous TV actor Neil Patrick Harris, high on ecstasy.
White Castle proved to have a potent strain as it mixed stoner and sex comedy elements with the inversion of stereotypes, timely social and political issues, and platforming actors who would not normally find themselves as headliners. The movie had a profitable theatrical run and become a cult hit on home entertainment. Guantanamo and 2011’s A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson, followed. The trio of films was made by Warner Bros. division New Line Cinema.
“We’re fired up to bring Harold and Kumar back in a return to the unapologetically R-rated, smoke-filled chaos that started it all,” Hurwitz and Schlossberg said jointly in a statement. “It’s high time they puff and pass their wisdom onto a new generation. Just don’t tell their kids.”
Cho and Penn have both seen their careers ascend since the first movie. Cho went on to play Sulu in the Star Trek movie reboot and was nominated for an Indie Spirit Award for his performance in the 2018 thriller Searching. Penn appeared in the long-running medical mystery series House and later was a member of the Obama administration as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Hurwitz and Schlossberg, meanwhile, went on a Hollywood ride almost as wild as Harold & Kumar. The success of those movies made them in demand for comedies, and they wrote and directed the 2012 American Pie movie American Reunion and produced the 2018 comedy Blockers.
But it became an era of high times with high kicks after they teamed up with Heald to create, showrun and executive produce Cobra Kai, a series that served as a sequel to the classic Karate Kid movies. The show proved a generational hit, blending old characters with a new talent, and melding comedy with drama and heart with action, as it became one of Netflix’s biggest successes around the world. It also proved to be a hit with critics and peers, with the third season earning an Emmy nomination for outstanding comedy series. The show wrapped its sixth and final season earlier this year on Netflix, allowing the power trio to find their next fix.
I was in college, working at a movie theater, when the first movie came out. (A perk of working at a movie theater in 2004 was free movies!) 20-year-old me thought it was a dumb, hilarious, fun ride. That said, I don’t know if we necessarily need another Harold and Kumar movie. Was anyone asking for this? I did some research and as it turns out, all three movies were profitable at the box office and received favorable reviews, which probably goes a long way towards having another sequel greenlit. I know I saw the first two, but I honestly cannot remember if I’ve seen A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. Should I go back and watch it?
For those keeping track, the late 90s/early 2000s properties that are getting reboots include The X-Files, Practical Magic, The Princess Diaries, Meet the Parents, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Malcolm in the Middle, Scrubs, and possibly My Cousin Vinny. And those are just the ones that I remember off the top of my head. Don’t get me wrong. For better or for worse, I am here for some of these reboots that I just listed. I was originally going to lament about the lack of new and fresh ideas, but then a thought struck me. Given everything that’s going on in the world today, are we just nostalgic for “simpler” times? Is that why studios are bringing back so many Millennial and Gen X heavy properties?
photos credit: Aubrey Reuben/Avalon, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Nicky Nelson/Wenn/Avalon, Getty, Getty Images for Netflix
I mean- nothing beats the original. So ridiculously funny.
especially Neil Patrick Harris.
I will say, even back them i fast forwarded through some of the 12 year old boy gross out humor. Chris Meloni covered in prosthetics, random Ryan Reynolds, raccoon. Hang gliding.
Yeah, I may have to pull out the dvd.
The Harold and Kumar movies are part of the movies we used to watch on Friday afternoons with my friends in high school because we didn’t have class. I can pretty much recite the two first movies by heart. We quote them whenever we can even as adults now, these and How High as well.