Those mourning Kal Penn’s seemingly premature retirement from acting received tidings of great joy this week when Warner Bros. announced plans to release A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas on Nov. 5, 2010.

Penn, 31, made headlines in April by announcing that he would join President Barack Obama in the White House as associate director of the Office of Public Liaison, effectively ending the New Jersey-born actor’s year-and-a-half run on the TV medical drama House. Although Penn suggested at the time he would have no qualms about scuttling his career in entertainment for a life of public service, he has since insisted that his days on the big screen are not over.

Penn is expected to rejoin co-star John Cho for a third Harold & Kumar adventure after their mishap-laden Escape from Guantanamo Bay grossed over $43 million worldwide following its April 2008 release. While once-rampant rumors of a spin-off starring Neil Patrick Harris have gradually died down, this latest announcement proves that the pot-fueled buddy saga, like Penn’s Hollywood career, has hardly run its course.