Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Danny Leiner
Produced by	Nathan Kahane Greg Shapiro
Written by	Jon Hurwitz Hayden Schlossberg
Starring	John Cho Kal Penn
Music by	David Kitay
Cinematography	Bruce Douglas Johnson
Edited by	Jeff Betancourt
Production company	Senator International Kingsgate Films Endgame Entertainment
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date	July 30, 2004 (2004-07-30)
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9 million
Box office	$23.9 million

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (alternatively known as Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies) is a 2004 American stoner comedy film and the first installment of the Harold & Kumar series. The film was written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and directed by Danny Leiner.

The story follows Harold Lee (John Cho) and Kumar Patel (Kal Penn) as they decide to go to the fast food chain White Castle after smoking marijuana, but end up on a series of comical misadventures along the way.

The film also features Fred Willard, Paula Garcés, Anthony Anderson, Dan Bochart, Ethan Embry, Jamie Kennedy, Bobby Lee, Christopher Meloni, Ryan Reynolds, Shaun Majumder, David Krumholtz, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Malin Åkerman, and Neil Patrick Harris, who plays a fictionalized version of himself.

Investment banker Harold Lee is persuaded by his colleagues Billy and JD to do their work while they leave for the weekend. Kumar Patel attends a medical school interview, but intentionally botches it to prevent getting accepted. Harold sees his neighbor Maria, but is unable to admit his feelings. After smoking marijuana with Kumar, and seeing an advertisement for White Castle, the pair decide to get hamburgers. After traveling to the nearest White Castle in New Brunswick, they find it replaced by "Burger Shack" but are informed by an employee of another White Castle in Cherry Hill.