Paramount might be slowly winning Warner Bros. Discovery over

Whoever wins, we lose. So read the tagline to 2004’s AVP: Alien Vs. Predator, a long-in-the-works crossover event between two of the universe’s most ruthless killers. Released by 20th Century Fox before Disney devoured that company like a Xenomorph chowing down on a poor Nostromo engineer, it offers a perfect description for how to think about the ongoing screwball love triangle between Netflix, Paramount, and Warner Bros., which will further shrink the movie business regardless of who gets WB. While Netflix has spent the weeks assuring business leaders, Congress, and moviegoers that the streamer is committed to keeping movies in theaters, it has also promised to pay upwards of $80 billion for one of the remaining major studios in Hollywood. For weeks, Warner Bros. has balked at Paramount’s overtures until today, per Deadline. The latest offer from Paramount may be a so-called “Company Superior Proposal” as defined in WBD’s deal with Netflix. Paramount’s latest proposal includes raising the purchase price from $30 to $31 per share, a $7 billion regulator termination fee that Paramount will pay if the deal falls apart due to regulations, and footing the $2.8 billion termination fee that Warner Bros. would be on the hook for if the studio kills its Netflix deal. Netflix’s deal is currently for $27.75 per share in cash. Should WBD determine that the Paramount deal is superior, Netflix would have four days to throw all the money in the world at Warners and propose revisions to the deal.