If Kal Penn has his way, there will be a fourth installment of Harold & Kumar coming at some point in the future. The franchise has already seen three releases, with its first – Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle – becoming a comedy cult classic. It spawned two sequels, but the most recent came almost a decade ago as Penn and fellow star John Cho have seen their careers explode since the first movie came out in 2004.
The plot of a Harold & Kumar movie is secondary to the hi jinks the two characters get into, growing more crazy with each subsequent movie. In the first installment, Harold and Kumar go on a quest to secure some White Castle while they are high, encountering a series of crazy obstacles (including a rabid Neil Patrick Harris). In 2008, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay features the two trying to escape from a maximum security prison camp. And 2011's A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas involves a mission to secure a new Christmas tree.
Where the franchise can go from here is unclear, but Variety reports Penn – who plays Kumar – is interested in making a fourth movie. The actor told the publication that it was something he and Cho had discussed in the past and both would be interested in something moving forward. He also claimed to have had discussions with Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who are the creators and screenwriters of the previous three movies. This means everybody is supposedly on board.
This is not the first time there has been momentum building towards adding to the Harold & Kumar universe. Shortly after the third movie was released, an animated television series was shopped around, although that never developed. Additionally, Cho stated several years ago that he had pitched an idea for a fourth movie in the series. It's not clear if any new movie would be following his pitch or would be based on a different idea.
Getting the two stars together for a movie would probably be the most challenging part of the process. Penn has seen two of his shows canceled this year in Designated Survivor and Sunnyside, but he has branched out into voice acting recently. Meanwhile, Cho is working on the new Cowboy Bebop series, although a knee injury he suffered has delayed production on the project. Still, the world needs to know what a Harold & Kumar movie would look like, especially as the acceptance of marijuana and stoner culture has grown significantly over the past decade.
Source: Variety