Johnny Depp Takes on Christmas in New Trailer for 'Ebenezer'

It has been nearly eight years since the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, which also marked the last time that Johnny Depp led a mainstream studio film. Following Depp’s very public divorce and 2022 defamation trial with his ex-wife, Amber Heard, in which he was accused of domestic assault, the actor has largely led independent productions or internationally funded films. Yet the actor is attempting a comeback with a reimagining of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Paramount Pictures has released a new trailer for Ebenezer. Directed by Ti West, the film stars Depp as the titular Ebenezer Scrooge. Alongside Depp, the cast consists of Rupert Grint (Harry Potter), Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens), Tramell Tillman (Spider-Man: Brand New Day), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), Ellie Bamber (Red, White, & Royal Blue), Arthur Conti (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), Henry Lloyd-Hughes (Disclosure Day), and Charlie Murphy (Halo). Ebenezer is set to open in theaters on Nov. 13, 2026. See the trailer below:

Ebenezer was one of the many titles Paramount Pictures announced after Skydance acquired the studio. Positioning Ebenezer as a comeback film for Depp aligns with Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison’s history of hiring male talent previously accused of misconduct. Ellison previously appointed John Lasseter, former Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, as head of Skydance Animation after Disney let him go for inappropriate workplace behavior. While Paramount Pictures ultimately passed on Max Landis G.I. Joe script, it was notable that the studio considered working with him despite multiple sexual-assault allegations against the Chronicle screenwriter.

With director Ti West’s horror background on films like X and Pearl, Paramount Pictures is leaning into Ebenezer‘s gothic atmosphere by giving the movie a Friday the 13th release. Releasing seven weeks before Christmas should theoretically give Ebenezer legs at the box office as the holiday gets closer. Ebenezer will open opposite the crime thriller How to Rob a Bank and the drama Paper Tigers. The following week, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will open in theaters.

Ebenezer will truly test whether Johnny Depp still has the box-office draw he did in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. Even though the marketing for Ebenezer has positioned it as “the name you know, the story you don’t”, the film’s two trailers look like most versions of A Christmas Carol. In fact, since it once again features Johnny Depp doing another over-the-top performance akin to Dark Shadows or The Lone Ranger, Ebenezer looks like more of the same.