Earlier today, "Harold & Kumar" co-creator Jon Hurwitz, who co-wrote the first two movies Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and its sequel Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay (which he also co-directed) announced on his Twitter account that the third movie A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas has started filming:

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

John Cho and Kal Penn are back in the lead roles, and the movie is filming somewhere in Michigan, which has recently become a hotbed for film productions going by the recent announcement of projects. Directing this time around is Todd Strauss-Schulson, who has previously directed various MTV programs and a couple shorts. When it was originally announced, the movie was slated for a November 5, 2010 release, but it seems that a June/July shoot might be cutting it tight for a holiday release this year, so one can probably assume it will get a release late next year.

Hurwitz is also currently developing American Pie 4 to co-direct with his regular collaborator Hayden Schlossberg, which is why they aren't directing the third installment. No word on when that might start shooting or get a release just yet.

UPDATE: Thanks to an observer's Twitpic, we now know that the movie is shooting at Somerset Mall in Troy, Michigan and we have the first picture of the set. You can click on the image below to check out a larger version and a few other pictures taken on set: