Johnny Depp returns as Scrooge in Ti West’s horror-tinged ‘Ebenezer’

Paramount Pictures released a trailer on Oct. 1, 2026 for Ebenezer, directed by Ti West and starring Johnny Depp as Scrooge. The film, based on Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, is scheduled for theaters on Nov. 13, 2026. Ian McKellen plays Jacob Marley, who in the trailer warns, “You will be haunted by three spirits.” The cast also includes Rupert Grint, Daisy Ridley, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin and Tramell Tillman. It is Depp’s first major Hollywood studio film in eight years. Nathaniel Halpern wrote the screenplay; Emma Watts produced. Filming took place in Dublin and London in January after an October 2025 announcement as Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol. McKellen, 87, spent six days on the role. Ti West told Entertainment Weekly he loves the book and is not attempting a meta tweak, calling the film genuine, with its own perspective and stylistic choices made in reverence of the text. He said Depp hits classic unlikable Scrooge moments with humor and charm, that other iconic Depp roles do not relate to this one, and that he liked the source more as a ghost story than a Christmas story. Trailer moments show Scrooge mocking Christmas dinner guests and refusing charity, transported via his bed to his younger self dancing with his love, slipping into a grave, and a spirit in a wedding dress warning him. An earlier trailer included the Scrooge line “It’s good to be back.” Rated coverage ran 4 left / 1 center / 0 right. No right-rated headlines appeared. No material factual disputes divided the outlets.