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It looks like Warner Bros. is close to settling on a man to play the Green Lantern, with the short-list now down to three to play the Air Force pilot-turned superhero.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actors who have made it through two rounds of auditions and into the final reckoning to play Hal Jordan are Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake.

That's bad news for Michael Fassbender, Henry Cavill and Jared Leto, who the trade mag reports had their own screen tests early in the process.

The main players involved are struggling to come to a consensus however, with director Martin Campbell, producer Donald De Line and the studio each having a different favourite among the finalists.

The Reporter also claims that there a worries over the budget, with Warner apparently balking at the hefty $150-200m price tag.

The film is still scheduled for a December 2010 opening however, so expect the role to be cast imminently.