This afternoon the big conference room at the South By Southwest Austin Convention Center headquarters was reserved for the cast of tonight’s big ticket premiere Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay The topic? Race, Politics, and Drugs: A Harold & Kumar panel.

We’ll have full coverage of the panel up for you tomorrow morning (assuming I stay upright long enough to play back the audio and write something about it), but in the meantime, one of the last questions of the conference skewed into sequel territory. With Harold & Kumar 2 coming soon, everyone wants to know will there be a Harold & Kumar 3, and when asked the question the movie’s writer/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg jokingly compared their burgeoning franchise to a pot-smoking Star Wars. They laughingly hinted that they have a 12-movie story arc planned, to which Neil Patrick Harris gleefully responded “Cha-ching!”

Less jokingly though they admitted that they’re ready to go with more ideas. Schlossberg and Hurwitz are heavily invested in the world of Harold & Kumar and seem committed to making them as long as there's someone to fund them. They started writing on Harold & Kumar 2 before White Castle was even in theaters, and then had to throw out half their ideas and come up with something different when they finally got around to actually making it. It’ll probably be the same with Harold & Kumar 3. They’ve got the creative ball rolling, but there are no definite plans right now to make it happen.

So Harold & Kumar 3? Hell yes… as long as someone gives them the money. And they’ll probably get the money, assuming enough stoners show up for Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.

Check back for our full from the “Race, Politics, and Drugs: A Harold & Kumar” panel later on in our SXSW Festival coverage.