{"id":660926,"date":"2026-11-14T19:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-14T19:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/660926\/"},"modified":"2026-11-14T19:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-14T19:26:09","slug":"johnny-depps-ebenezer-wins-box-office-opening-weekend-in-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/660926\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Depp’s ‘Ebenezer’ Wins Box Office Opening Weekend in Comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEbenezer<\/a> unwrapped $6.7 million on Friday, including Thursday previews<\/a>, as star Johnny Depp<\/a>\u2018s studio comeback vehicle<\/a> looks to open in first place at the domestic box office<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n\tParamount Pictures released director Ti West<\/a>\u2018s horror-tinged adaptation of Charles Dickens\u2019 A Christmas Carol in 3,535 North American theaters this weekend. Earning an A- CinemaScore from audiences, the $38 million-budgeted Ebenezer is expected to earn around $20 million for the frame or just under that. Of the opening Thursday night audience, 62 percent of the crowd was over age 30, suggesting that the film was especially appealing for those who likely have positive associations with seeing Depp\u2019s films throughout the decades. Ebenezer earned 4.5 out of 5 stars on PostTrak, with 50 percent of moviegoers citing Depp as their reason for seeing the movie. <\/p>\n

\n\tRupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley and Ian McKellen round out the cast for the $38 million-budgeted feature that stars Depp as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by three spirits. Ebenezer marks Depp\u2019s first studio feature since 2018\u2019s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, as he took a hiatus from high-profile work following abuse allegations from ex-wife Amber Heard that Depp has denied, in addition to negative headlines amid his and Heard\u2019s 2022 defamation trial<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tParamount had been pleased with data suggesting that audiences want Depp back and that he still holds wide appeal, with the marketing including the actor appearing in character as Scrooge to remind fans of other transformative roles like Captain Jack Sparrow and Willy Wonka. Ebenezer has a PG-13 rating but is still geared toward the family crowd. Critics have been split on Ebenezer, as it holds a 53 percent approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes reviewers. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, critic Frank Scheck declares that Ebenezer \u201cfulfills its ostensible goal of restoring the actor to A-list status.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tPete Davidson (left) and Rhenzy Feliz in How to Rob a Bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Amazon MGM Studios<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong other new arrivals, Sony Pictures released Ghost Soldier<\/a> in 2,558 North American locations on Wednesday, with director William Eubank\u2019s action movie expected to gross around $5 million for the three-day frame and a $8.1 million domestic cume. Jim Caviezel plays a former Green Beret who must defend his Wyoming community against a corporate threat. Hailing from Mandalay Pictures, Ghost Soldier holds a 42 percent score from Rotten Tomatoes critics and a 90 percent from audiences.<\/p>\n

\n\tNot expected to bag much of a haul is Amazon MGM Studios\u2019 How to Rob a Bank, as director David Leitch<\/a>\u2018s heist movie grossed $2.2 million domestically on Friday, including Thursday previews, and eyes around $4.7 million for the frame. Nicholas Hoult, Zo\u00eb Kravitz and Anna Sawai star in the $40 million-budgeted ensemble film about a group of bank robbers who document their exploits on social media. <\/p>\n

\n\tHow to Rob a Bank is opening well below Leitch\u2019s recent work, including 2022\u2019s Bullet Train ($30 million domestic debut) and 2024\u2019s The Fall Guy ($27.7 million domestic debut), although those featured more proven box office draws in Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling, respectively. The new movie, which earned a B- CinemaScore, has come up a bit empty with critics. It holds a 33 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 80 percent audience score, with THR chief film critic David Rooney noting in his review<\/a> that \u201cthe fun wears a bit thin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMore to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ebenezer unwrapped $6.7 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, as star Johnny Depp\u2018s studio comeback vehicle looks to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[5784,430,158089,266389,156,81962,318558,34102,111,139,69,42287,320173,83812,293141],"class_list":["post-660926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-box-office","tag-celebrities","tag-david-leitch","tag-ebenezer","tag-entertainment","tag-godzilla-minus-zero","tag-how-to-rob-a-bank","tag-johnny-depp","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-ramayana","tag-the-cat-in-the-hat","tag-ti-west","tag-you-can-see-everything"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}