Ebenezer (2026) — Johnny Depp Is Scrooge in Ti West's Dark Christmas Carol
Johnny Depp is back on the big screen — and he is playing the most famous miser in Christmas history.
Ebenezer, the new Paramount Pictures film directed by Ti West, opens in US theatres on Friday, November 13, 2026. It is a dark, gothic reimagining of Charles Dickens' 1843 classic A Christmas Carol, with Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge, the wealthy businessman who hates Christmas — until one supernatural night forces him to face his past, his present, and his future.
This is not the cosy Christmas Carol you grew up with. West, the horror filmmaker behind X, Pearl and MaXXXine, brings his gothic style to Victorian London, while the film keeps the dark comedy in Dickens' story. The studio calls Depp's Scrooge "deliciously unpleasant" — and the tagline says it best: "The name you know, the story you don't."
The cast around Depp is stacked. Ian McKellen plays Jacob Marley, the ghost of Scrooge's dead business partner. Rupert Grint plays Bob Cratchit. Andrea Riseborough is the Ghost of Christmas Past, Tramell Tillman is the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Daisy Ridley, Sam Claflin, Ellie Bamber and Arthur Conti round out the ensemble. The screenplay is by Nathaniel Halpern, from Dickens' novella.
The story follows the familiar path — on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by Marley and three spirits who force him to confront the mistakes of his past, the emptiness of his present, and the lonely future waiting for him if he refuses to change. But this version leans into the ghosts, the dread, and the strange humour, and it is rated PG-13 for frightening material.
It is also a comeback moment for Depp. Ebenezer is his first major studio movie since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018. He premiered the film in New York on November 1, and walked the red carpet at the London premiere on November 9.
Early box office tracking has cooled a little. Box Office Pro's October long-range forecast put the opening weekend at $25 million to $35 million, while a newer Box Office Theory range cited on November 4 was $17 million to $24 million, against a reported $38 million budget. The real test starts Friday, when audiences decide whether this darker Scrooge is the Christmas hit of the year.
The reviews are now in, and critics are sharply divided. Ebenezer debuted on Rotten Tomatoes at 51% (Rotten) from around 60 reviews, with praise for the gothic atmosphere, production design and Depp's committed performance — but many critics found it slow and too faithful to Dickens, and were split on Depp's big, theatrical Scrooge. Audiences rate it 7.1/10 on IMDb so far, and the audience score will take shape once the film opens.
Ebenezer is in theatres only from November 13, 2026. No streaming date has been announced yet.
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Will you be watching Ebenezer in theaters this weekend? Tell us in the comments — is Johnny Depp the Scrooge you have been waiting for?
