Johnny Depp’s “Ebenezer” Turns Scrooge Into This Year’s Spookiest Holiday Hook

A Christmas Carol is getting a darker makeover: Johnny Depp plays Scrooge in a ghost story directed by Ti West. The familiar holiday tale is back—but this time, it is dressed for a haunted house.

Why this Scrooge is getting attention

Paramount’s Ebenezer opens November 13, with Depp as the famously tight-fisted lead. The studio’s synopsis sends Scrooge through a supernatural Christmas Eve reckoning with his past, present and future—classic Dickens, but with the shadows turned up.

Then there’s the creative pairing. Ti West, known for the X horror trilogy, is steering one of the most familiar holiday stories into spookier territory. That tonal switch is the trailer’s main hook: this isn’t selling a cozy retread so much as a ghost story with a legendary title.

The movie is also a major studio return for Depp. Variety reports this is his first Hollywood studio film since 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. The ensemble adds familiar faces, including Andrea Riseborough, Rupert Grint, Daisy Ridley, Sam Claflin and Ian McKellen.

The industry angle: known story, new genre promise

Hollywood keeps revisiting stories audiences already recognize. The risk is that “another adaptation” can feel like a rerun; the opportunity is to give the source a fresh reason to exist. Ebenezer is stacking three recognizable hooks—Dickens, Depp and West’s horror sensibility—instead of relying on nostalgia alone.

Paramount says the film will play in theaters, including Dolby Cinema, 4DX and D-BOX. That positions the ghostly makeover as a big-screen holiday event, not just another familiar title on the December watchlist.

Trendizt Take

The sharpest move is the genre flip: Scrooge doesn’t need another lesson in generosity; he needs ghosts that feel genuinely unsettling. If West can make Dickens eerie and Depp’s miser compelling, this could be the holiday movie for people who want their Christmas with a little more shadow.

Vibe check: intriguingly grim. Release: November 13, 2026. Tickets are on sale now, according to Paramount’s press materials.

Would you watch a horror-leaning Christmas Carol—or should Scrooge stay spooky-free?

Photos provided by Paramount Pictures via EPK.TV. Photo credits are retained in captions.