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Despite the fact that the original Van Wilder made only $21 million domestically, someone out there thought that the movie's comedy relief to the comedy, Taj, had enough buzz and interest for his own spin-off film. Taj was played by one Kal Penn, who has since become (somewhat) recognizable in his own right as he starred in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. That movie made even less than Van Wilder, but it's DVD where all the money is with these franchises, anyway.

Penn is the most recognizable name in this sequel, which has Taj (Van Wilder's assistant in the first film) heading to England's upper crust Camford University in order to move his studies along. Naturally, he's not going to conform to the easy temptation to use his brain and learn some things. No, indeed. There's partying to be done, and he enlists any number of students to join him in his quest for fun. Being British and students of an elite school, they're obviously stuffy and stiff, so Taj will have to teach them all about the Wilder way. While The Rise of Taj isn't likely to be a big theatrical blockbuster, that release will essentially serve as advertising for the inevitable DVD, which will make plenty enough to please its producers and distributors. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

Vital statistics for National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj Main Cast Kal Penn, Lauren Cohan, Daniel Percival Supporting Cast Glenn Barry, Anthony Cozens, Tom Davey, Holly Davidson, William de Coverly, Shobu Kapoor, Ashley Rae, Steven Rathman, Amy Steel, Beth Steel Director Mort Nahan Screenwriter David Drew Gallagher Distributor MGM Trailer Click Here for Trailer Official Site http://www.riseoftaj.com/ Rating R Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture