Let’s be honest. This saga is starting to feel like a slow-burn drama.

Warner Bros. Discovery could signal as early as Tuesday that it’s willing to engage with Paramount, following a revised takeover offer from the Ellison family. That’s according to people familiar with the matter. And yes, that would be a shift.

Until now, WBD hasn’t exactly been welcoming.

The Netflix deal still stands. For now.

Here’s the deal.

WBD already has a signed agreement with Netflix. Netflix agreed to buy Warner Bros. Studios and its streaming assets for $27.75 per share, all cash. No stock. No maybes. The offer itself was already improved once under pressure.

Despite that, Paramount kept knocking. Repeatedly. Every one of those unsolicited offers? Rejected. Flat out.

At least… until recently.

A sweeter bid changes the tone

Paramount’s latest proposal came with extra incentives. Enough that some WBD shareholders started speaking up.

That includes activist investor Ancora Capital, which publicly pushed the board to stop brushing things aside and actually weigh the options.

WBD’s official response last week sounded cautious. The company said it was reviewing Paramount’s amended offer, but also made it clear it was still sticking with Netflix. A classic “we’re listening, but don’t get excited” move.

Still, something shifted.

Paramount ups the stakes

Paramount is offering $30 per share in cash for all of WBD. That’s already higher than Netflix’s price. But it didn’t stop there.

The new bid includes a $0.25-per-share quarterly ticking fee if the deal doesn’t close after December 31, 2026. That works out to roughly $650 million in extra value every quarter. Not pocket change.

Paramount also agreed to cover a $2.8 billion termination fee that would be owed to Netflix. On top of that, it offered concessions around WBD’s debt financing and other obligations.

And no, Paramount hasn’t called this its “final” offer yet. Which tells you something.

Shareholder timelines get messy

After locking in the Netflix deal, WBD had been planning a special shareholder meeting in April to vote on the merger, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Now? That plan looks… uncertain.

Paramount also went straight to WBD shareholders with a public tender offer. The deadline has already been extended twice and is now set for February 20. Time’s ticking. Literally.

What happens next?

Bloomberg was first to report that WBD’s stance toward Paramount might be softening. That doesn’t mean a deal is coming. But it does suggest the door isn’t fully closed anymore.

Representatives from both companies declined to comment, which, let’s be honest, usually means talks are at least happening somewhere in the background.

So now it’s a bit of a see-saw.

A clean, locked-in Netflix deal on one side.
A richer, more complex Paramount offer on the other.

Which way it tips? No one’s saying yet. But this story clearly isn’t over.