‘Harold & Kumar 4’ in development; John Cho and Kal Penn expected to return-OxBig News Network

Poster of ‘Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Harold and Kumar are back! Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the writers of the Harold & Kumar films and the directors of 2008’s Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, have closed a deal to write and direct a fourth instalment of the popular buddy stoner comedy movie series.

They will be joined by Josh Heald, with whom they collaborated on Netflix’s martial arts comedy series Cobra Kai. According to The Hollywood Reporter, actors John Cho and Kal Penn, who played the titular roles, are expected to return for the fourth film, though no deals have been closed so far with the actors.

“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. It’s high time they puff and pass their wisdom onto a new generation. Just don’t tell their kids,” said Hurwitz and Schlossberg in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

The first Harold & Kumar film, titled Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and directed by Danny Leiner, followed Cho’s Harold Lee, a Korean American, and Penn’s Kumar Patel, an Indian American, as they take a rather adventurous road trip to a burger joint named White Castle to satiate their munchies. The success of the 2004 film led to two sequels, 2008’s Escape from Guantanamo Bay and 2011’s A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, both directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson

Interestingly, all the three films also featured popular actor Neil Patrick Harris appearing in a cameo as himself. It remains unknown if the actor will return for the fourth instalment.

Hurwitz, Schlossberg and Heald will also produce the film under their Counterbalance Entertainment banner. Greg Shapiro, the producer of the Harold & Kumar films, also produces.