Paramount has gone straight to Warner Bros. Discovery’s shareholders with an all-cash offer in an extraordinary endeavor to gain control of Hollywood’s most sought-after prize — a bid that Netflix beat on Friday.

CNN staffers tell Fox News Digital the mood in the newsroom is "grim" over the prospects of Paramount owner David Ellison buying its parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.

As Netflix and Paramount fight for Warner Bros. Discovery, the fate of the giant media company could rest on the value of its cable networks.

The mounting battle to purchase one of Hollywood’s biggest prizes — Warner Bros. Discovery — has captured President Donald Trump’s attention as he sees his own interests entwined in the transaction and appears poised to try to influence its outcome.