Charlie Sheen's Out, Is Kutcher In?

Actor Ashton Kutcher is reportedly close to a signing a deal with “Two-and-a-half-Men” in a move that could save the troubled show after Warner Bros. fired its original star, Charlie Sheen, earlier this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The deal would come less than a week from when CBS (NYSE:CBS), the prime-time series' host, is slated to announce its fall schedule to advertisers.

CBS and Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), have been scrambling to save the most-watched comedy sitcom. The show was taken off the air mid-season in March following several incoherent public outbursts by Sheen.

Kutcher would be paid around $1 million to star in the newly-created role, according to the Journal, citing people close to the matter. Sheen was the highest paid TV actor in 2010, making out with a whopping $1.25 million per episode.

While no public announcements have been made on the role, Kutcher in a Twitter post late Thursday asked, “what’s the square root of 6.25?” which is an apparent reference to the “two and a half” in the sitcom’s title.

People close to the matter said that Chuck Lorre, one of the show’s creators, has been working on plans that would add a new character to the show, instead of replacing Sheen’s role.

Kutcher has experience in sitcoms, having costarred in the “That ‘70s Show,” until the series ended in 2006. The sitcom was aired on News Corp.’s (NYSE:NWS) FOX, which is also the parent company of FOX Business.

Kutcher has also starred in several movies, including “The Butterfly Effect,” “Killers,” “What Happens in Vegas,” “Just Married,” and “Valentine’s Day.”