Johnny Depp‘s Hollywood comeback story continues with the actor set to star in a new take on A Christmas Carol. Paramount is in final negotiations to acquire the movie, titled Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, which will be directed by Ti West.
Following an initial report by Nexus Point News, Deadline has confirmed that Depp will star as Ebenezer Scrooge in the upcoming movie, which Paramount has dated for release on Nov. 13, 2026. Nathaniel Halpern, best known for his work on Legion and creating and writing Tales from the Loop, wrote the script for Ebenezer, which has Emma Watts on board as a producer and Stephen Deuters and Jason Forman attached as executive producers. Oscar-nominated actor Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie) will also star in the movie.
Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol has seen many adaptations over the last 125 years, with the most recent being the 2022 reimagining Spirited starring Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds. The original story follows the elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by the ghost of his business partner, Jacob Marley, who warns him that he will be visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come, who deliver warnings and ultimately change him into a better person. West’s version is described as a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, following one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present, and future and fight for a second chance.
Johnny Depp Is Mounting a Hollywood Comeback
Image via Lionsgate
Ebenezer marks Depp’s second major Hollywood project since his famous legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard. While he did star in Jeanne du Barry and directed Modi: Three Days on the Wings of Madness, both were developed with European backers and released largely overseas, meaning that Depp had not starred in an American production since Minamata, which was shot back in 2019. However, the industry has begun to slowly welcome him back, with the actor having recently wrapped production on Day Drinker for Lionsgate.
Directed by Marc Webb, Day Drinker follows a cruise ship bartender who meets a mysterious day drinker—only for both of them to find themselves entangled in a criminal underbelly, and connected in unexpected ways. Penélope Cruz and Madelyn Cline round out the ensemble for the action thriller. Day Drinker marks a reunion for Depp and Cruz, who previously worked together on Blow, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Murder on the Orient Express.
Depp is also expected to return for the sixth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which has been in some form of development at Disney since 2011. Jeff Nathanson, who wrote the screenplay for the fifth movie, 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales, penned the most recent draft of the Pirates 6 script, which reportedly features a part for Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow. However, whether the actor decides to return to his Oscar-nominated role is still up in the air, although franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed in August 2025 that if Depp “likes the way the part’s written, I think he would do it. It’s all about what’s on the page, as we all know.”
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol is scheduled to hit theaters on Nov. 13, 2026.