Johnny Depp is attempting to mount a Hollywood comeback. After years of being embroiled in controversy and starring in films you probably haven’t heard of (like the colonial drama “Waiting for the Barbarians”), he’s back in his first major studio movie in a long time. “Ebenezer” is a new take on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” with Depp playing Scrooge. The question is, can this be the box office hit that Depp needs?
Directed by Ti West (“X,” “The Inkeepers”), “Ebenezer” is expected to pull in between $17 and $24 million domestically when it hits theaters next weekend, per Box Office Theory. Against a reported $38 million production budget, that would be a solid start for the Paramount release, especially since this one should be able to hang around through the holiday season. That is, assuming audiences like what West and Depp have cooked up. If it’s eviscerated by critics and audiences alike? That’s another conversation.
Competition shouldn’t be a big issue, at least not right away. “Godzilla Minus Zero” could make box office history for the franchise topping the charts this weekend, but it shouldn’t get in the way come its second frame. “The Cat in the Hat” is unlikely to be a major, direct threat, either. Rather, the biggest competition will come when “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” arrives on November 20.
The “Ebenezer” trailer positions Depp’s “Christmas Carol” re-telling as being closer to a horror movie. Now, horror has been extremely hot at the box office lately, so that makes sense. Paramount is also selling the film with the tagline, “The name you know, the story you don’t,” and it has a star-studded supporting cast that includes Rupert Grint (“Harry Potter”), Andrea Riseborough (“Mandy”), Daisy Ridley (“Star Wars”), Trammell Tillman (“Severence”), and Ian McKellen (“X-Men”).
Ebenezer has a favorable path to success at the box office
There are obvious risks here. As mentioned, if “Ebenezer” is met with a bad response, all of these numbers could be meaningless, as word of mouth could wreck its ability to have legs. Still, it’s likely to enjoy big returns on VOD and streaming, if for no other reason than curiosity from viewers.
The other issue is Johnny Depp himself. Depp dropped out of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise after a court case verdict tied to tabloid The Sun in 2018. That, coupled with his highly-publicized courtroom battle with his ex-wife Amber Heard over allegations of abuse, derailed his career. Even before that, though, it wasn’t going as well as it once had been.
Depp proved his best days were already behind him with the big box office bomb that was “Mortdecai” in 2015. He hasn’t starred in a meaningful hit since 2018. Yes, the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies made billions of dollars, but that was a long time ago. Do audiences still care about Depp? That’s the big question Paramount seeks to answer. It’s betting the answer is “yes.”
Beyond that, Ti West has never directed a high-profile movie of this size. He helmed the “X” films rather successfully, with “MaXXXine” sending off the trilogy on a box office high note, but we’re still talking about a movie that made $22 million in total. This is a big step up for West, and in light of the Depp of it all, there’s a lot of pressure. Was the director able to tune out the noise and deliver a crowd-pleaser? We’ll know soon enough.
“Ebenzer” hits theaters on November 13, 2026.