Ashton Kutcher appears to have won the "Two and a Half Men" sweepstakes.The actor has put the final touches on a deal to replace Charlie Sheen as the star of TV's No. 1 comedy, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter.
CBS, studio Warner Bros. and Kutcher's reps at CAA declined to comment on the situation, but a deal is said to be signed.
Kutcher Tweeted about the news Thursday evening. "What's the square root of 6.25?" he wrote. The answer is, in fact, 2 1/2.
The exact dollar figure he will be paid is not known, but a source says Kutcher is getting a "huge payday" to join the hit sitcom.
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The deal came together quickly in the wake of Hugh Grant passing on the opportunity to join the show. Now sources say Men creator Chuck Lorre has crafted a storyline to introduce Kutcher in a way that satisfies the network and studio. "It's really funny," says one source. "People are going to love it."
Broadcasting & Cable reported Thursday that Kutcher's name was surfacing as a possible Sheen replacement. The actor, who starred in the winter hit "No Strings Attached," would be taking first regular series gig since catapulting to stardom on Fox's "That 70's Show." He also executive produced the hit MTV hidden-camera series "Punk'd," among others.
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Kutcher brings a youthful fan base to the CBS show, as well as a big online profile with 6.7 million Twitter followers, which could help CBS promote the show.
"Chuck's really happy," another source says.
For his part, Kutcher is remaining coy. In a cryptic message he wrote on Twitter: "I'm starting to become convinced that people put my name in articles just to improve their SEO or hoping I'll tweet it."
Sheen was fired from "Two and a Half Men" in March after publicly attacking Lorre. "After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen's services on 'Two and a Half Men' effective immediately," Warner Bros. said in a statement.
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Sheen fired back with a $100 million breach on contract suit against Lorre and Warner Bros. "Chuck Lorre, one of the richest men in television who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, believes himself to be so wealthy and powerful that he can unilaterally decide to take money away from the dedicated cast and crew of the popular television series, 'Two and a Half Men,' in order to serve his own ego and self-interest, and make the star of the series the scapegoat for Lorre's own conduct," Sheen's lawyer, Marty Singer, wrote.
Sheen launched a tour after being fired. On tour stops, he had expressed his desire to return to "Men" despite his differences with Lorre.
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