EXCLUSIVE: In another big and bold move from the new Paramount regime following the Skydance merger, the studio is in final negotiations to board Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, with Johnny Depp set to star and Ti West on board to direct. Andrea Riseborough has also signed on, with the studio dating the film for November 13, 2026. Nathaniel Halpern penned the script with Emma Watts producing.
The classic Charles Dickens story has seen its fair share of retellings over the years with its tale of an elderly miser visited by the ghost of his former business partner and the spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. This also marks the second Christmas Carol pic announced this year after Warner Bros. also put in development an adaptation from Robert Eggers with Willem Dafoe in line to play Scrooge.
This version, a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, follows one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present and future and fight for a second chance.
Stephen Deuters and Jason Forman are also executive producers.
As for Depp, this marks one of his biggest roles in some time following his defamation-lawsuit victory in 2022. Since then the industry has begun opening its doors to him; he recently wrapped production on the Lionsgate pic Day Drinker opposite Penélope Cruz. The role of Scrooge falls right in Depp’s wheelhouse after making of career of creating wild and bold characters from Captain Jack Sparrow and the Mad Hatter to Ichabod Crane and Willy Wonka.
As for West, the director made a name for himself in the horror genre with his A24 trilogy that started with X in 2022, followed that same year by Pearl and wrapping with last year’s MaXXXine. He now gets his first major studio movie tackling a classic holiday ghost story that plays to his strengths.
Depp is repped by Range Media Partners; Riseborough by CAA, Independent Talent Group and Untitled; and West by CAA and LBI Entertainment.
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