UPDATED: 'A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas' starts filming -- Now in 3D!

Posted Monday, June 21, 2010 at 4:14 PM Central
Last updated Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at 1:18 PM Central

by John Couture

Photo taken by Danny Purdue.

I love the Internet. I mean, it's truly how I earn an income so naturally that goes without saying, but some days I truly appreciate the synergy that is social media.

For those of you lost, I'm talking about Twitter, the glorious social media sharing site that allows you to share your adventure with the world 140 characters at a time. Naturally, Twitter, or any social media tool for that matter, is only as valuable as you make it out to be, and for people interested in movies, it can be quite a useful tool.

With so many celebrities using Twitter these days and with the copious amounts of downtime on movie sets, you knew it was only a matter of time until they started sharing details (both officially and unofficially). Today's "Twitter revelation" was first reported by ComingSoon.net as best as I can ascertain, but the real nugget came from writer/director Jon Hurwitz' (creator of all things Harold & Kumar) twitter account.

"Harold & Kumar 3 has officially started shooting. That is all."

Ah, but that is far from all. Knowing that stars John Cho and Kal Penn are returning as the titular characters served as a launching pad to see what they are twittering about.

From John Cho's twitter account, we learn of a potentially cool bit of casting. "In Michigan. @pattonoswalt in my vicinity, holding a sketch pad, duct tape, and a reel to reel audio recorder. Eeesh."

Holy Schnikes! Patton Oswalt has been cast in A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas? Well, that necessitated a visit to Patton's twitter account to see if indeed this was true. And sure enough, he seems to collaborate the inference.

"Maybe it's this Michigan air, but @JohnTheCho is looking huggable, chloroform-able, and bury-able." And not only that, but he posted a pic of the on-lookers at their on location set.

So, it seems that John Cho did leak a bit of casting news, or did he? It seems that Jon Hurwitz was quick to keep the ambiguity alive with this follow-up tweet.

"Cannot confirm whether or not @pattonoswalt was cast in Harold & Kumar 3, or if he's simply on an espionage mission for the Ruskies."

Hmm, I'm betting on the former.

Of course, anyone familiar with the Harold & Kumar films knows that Neil Patrick Harris has popped up in the first two films playing a wild partying version of himself and will almost assuredly show up at some point in A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas.

However, a quick glance at his twitter account shows a definite lack of any mention of Harold & Kumar and Michigan, but time will tell. Man, I'm hoping he shows up at some point dressed up as Santa Claus getting stoned, that will make my year! Not to mention that this movie is the first Christmas movie (that I'm aware of) about smoking pot.

Speaking of Michigan, since it's the state I was born and raised in, I happened to recognize the mall (or should I say collection) where they are filming. It's the Somerset Collection in Troy (a suburb of Detroit) located on, oh yes, the most infamous street in the greater Detroit area, Big Beaver Road.

So, a quick search through twitter found that indeed some lucky passersby were taking in the festivities. One lucky fella is Danny Purdue who has posted some cool pics from the set. Check them out.

Or better yet, start following all of the above celebs and watch the process of making a movie unfold before your very eyes. What do you think of celebs using twitter to pimp their movies? Is it cool or lame?

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas is set to debut in theaters on November 5, 2010 sometime during the 2011 holiday season.

UPDATED: If you didn't believe in the power of social media before reading this article, you better be on your way to the dark side now. If you took my advice and started following writer/director Jon Hurwitz on twitter then this is old news. But it seems that A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas is being pushed until next Christmas after initially being pegged for a holiday 2010 slot.

So, you heard it hear first, well second if you follow Jon on Twitter, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas will most likely be out next year around the holidays and it will be in 3D.