Warner Bros.’ Bidders Brace for a Fight That Will Last Months

Paramount Skydance Corp. and Netflix Inc. — the entertainment heavyweights locked in a bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. — are girding for a battle they predict will stretch well into 2026.

Warner Bros. was given 10 business days to respond to Paramount’s hostile $30-a-share bid for the company on Monday. Since that offer was already rejected once, the Warner Bros. board isn’t planning to cancel the merger agreement signed last week with Netflix, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. Doing so would require Warner Bros. to pay Netflix a $2.8 billion termination fee.

That puts the ...