Cobra Kai Creators Set to Write and Direct New ‘Harold & Kumar’ Sequel

Josh Heald, Hayden Schlossberg, and Jon Hurwitz, the creators of Netflix’s worldwide success Cobra Kai, have formally agreed to write a new episode of the cherished Harold & Kumar stoner comedy series from the early 2000s.

The film, which is being developed by Mandate Pictures, owned by Lionsgate, will also be directed by Hurwitz and Schlossberg. For the gentlemen, it is a complete circle occasion because they wrote the initial film, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, in 2004 and made their directorial debut with Harold & Kumar Escape Guantanamo Bay in 2008.

Return of Harold & Kumar: Project Summary

It is anticipated that John Cho and Kal Penn, who portrayed the main characters, will return. It’s unknown how Neil Patrick Harris, another important member of the cast, was involved.

Studios and Production Team

Alongside Greg Shapiro, who produced the first two films and later won an Oscar for best picture for his efforts on the war thriller The Hurt Locker, Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Heald will produce through their Counterbalance Entertainment business. The original trio’s producer, Mandate, will produce once more. Nathan Kahane, the current head of Lionsgate’s motion picture group, will be returning to Mandate as a producer after stepping down at the end of the year, and this feature will be one of his first productions.

The Story and Legacy of the Franchise

In Danny Leiner’s original Harold & Kumar, two young men, Indian American Kumar Patel and Korean American Harold Lee, smoke some pot and then drive to White Castle, a burger place in the Northeast, to satisfy their hunger. However, because the closest White Castle is miles away, they start a string of progressively strange experiences that include being arrested by racist police officers, getting high with a cheetah, and picking up a hitchhiker who turns out to be Neil Patrick Harris, a well-known TV actor, who is intoxicated.

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.

The combination of stoner and sex comedy components, the inversion of clichés, current social and political themes, and the platforming of actors who would not typically be considered stars made White Castle a powerful strain. The film became a home entertainment cult favorite after a successful theater run. Guantanamo and Todd Strauss-Schulson’s 2011 film A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas came next. New Line Cinema, a Warner Bros. branch, produced the three films.

The film became a home entertainment cult favorite after a successful theater run. Guantanamo and Todd Strauss-Schulson’s 2011 film A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas came next. New Line Cinema, a Warner Bros. branch, produced the three films.

Since the first film, Cho’s and Penn’s careers have taken off. Cho was nominated for an Indie Spirit Award for his role in the 2018 thriller Searching, and he later played Sulu in the Star Trek movie remake. After making an appearance in the enduring medical mystery series House, Penn served as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement during the Obama administration.

In the meantime, Hurwitz and Schlossberg experienced a Hollywood roller coaster that was nearly as crazy as Harold & Kumar. Because of the popularity of those films, they were in high demand for comedies. They produced the 2018 comedy Blockers and wrote and directed the 2012 American Pie film American Reunion.

However, after they collaborated with Heald to develop, showrun, and executive produce Cobra Kai, a television series that functioned as a follow-up to the iconic Karate Kid films, it turned into a time of good times and high kicks. Combining classic characters with fresh talent, humor and drama, and heart and action, the show proved to be a sensation across generations and went on to become one of Netflix’s biggest global hits. The third season received an Emmy nomination for outstanding comedy series, demonstrating its popularity among peers and critics alike. The power trio was able to find their next fix when the sixth and final season of the show concluded earlier this year on Netflix.

CAA and Hansen Jacobson represent Counterbalance, Hurwitz, Schlossberg, and Heald.