'Game of Thrones,' 'The Killing' Actors Emerge as Frontrunners for Warner Bros.' 'Arthur & Lancelot' (Exclusive)

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Kit Harrington and Joel Kinnaman

Warner Bros. is firing on all cylinders as it goes into casting mode for some heavyweight projects.

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While it’s trying to land a lead for Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Bradley Cooper is the latest to have an offer, after names such as Johnny Depp and Ryan Gosling have passed), it’s been conducting tests and readings for Arthur & Lancelot, the King Arthur project written by David Dobkin, who is also directing.

Actors such as Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), Dominic Cooper (The Devil's Double), Hans Matheson (Sherlock Holmes  ), and   Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) read for the part in the UK while Stateside Ben Walker and Liam Hemsworth were orbiting the Round Table.

But it’s Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow in HBO’s Game of Thrones, and Joel Kinnaman, the Swedish actor best known in America for AMC’s The Killing, that have emerged as the frontrunners, doing a screen test together for the title roles two Saturdays ago in London.

It is unclear whether the actors tested for single roles or for both.     

Right now the actors are in the waiting period – the studio has 30-day holds on both – and a decision is expected soon. Scheduling could affect dealmaking for both since both star in much-buzzed about TV shows.