Warner Bros. is expected to announce who will slip on the ring of the “Green Lantern” any day now.   According to THR the studio has whittled the candidates down to three: Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper, and Justin Timberlake.

Director Martin Campbell and producers Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti have, with Warners, been searching for the perfect candidate to play the DC Comics character, Hal Jordan, the top-dog Air Force pilot who is selected by a dying alien to be his successor in an intergalactic police force known as the Green Lanterns.

After considering other actors early on including Michael Fassbender, Henry Cavill, and Jared Leto, the studio ordered two rounds of screen tests with Cooper, Reynolds and Timberlake.

But, Warners is already past due on their decision as the holding deal they had on the actors expired Monday, which means the three are now free to accept other offers.

There are two main factors in that have added sluggish pace of the decision, the first being differing opinions on the best actor suited for the role.  De Line, Campbell and the studio apparently each had a different favorite.  The second being an already rising budget.

“Lantern” will be a state-of-the-art space epic that is expected to cost upwards of $200 million, and the identity of the cast significantly factors into that number.

The flick is scheduled for a December 2010 opening.