The announcement that Johnny Depp would be taking on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in yet another adaptation of Charles Dickens’ festive ghost story, A Christmas Carol, was not exactly what anyone expected to be on the actor’s slate as he continues to search for that big comeback movie. Now, it looks like we have our first taste of what Depp’s grouchy old miser will look like in this latest retelling of the classic tale.
New images captured on the set of Ti West’s Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol and initially shared by The Daily Mail before other online accounts, show an unrecognizable Depp in full Scrooge costume and make-up, alongside Andrea Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past. This is the first glimpse of one of two new versions of A Christmas Carol that are in development right now, with the second coming from Robert Eggers with his frequent collaborator Willem Defoe playing the penny-pinching Scrooge.
While there are few details available on the movie, it is not hard to guess at the main plotline of the film, but with Ti West having previously been behind the ‘X’ trilogy of horror movies, the film is not likely to be exactly as Dickens wrote it. We do know that the cast also includes Severance’s Tramell Tillman, and X-Men veteran Ian McKellen, and the film will be released by Paramount Pictures on Nov. 13, 2026, as long as everything goes to plan. This will be the biggest production that Depp has starred in since making his gradual return to Hollywood in the last few years.
Johnny Depp Has Slowly Found His Way To More High Profile Movies
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Since his defamation trial with ex-wife Amber Heard, Depp has been building up a low-level portfolio of new movies. This started with his role as Louis XV in the historical drama Jeanne du Barry in 2023, followed by his directorial return with Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness in 2024.
This year, he will not only be seen as Scrooge in Ti West’s movie, but also teams up with Penélope Cruz on the action thriller Day Drinker, which runs on a plot about a private-yacht bartender who meets a mysterious day drinker, only for them to be unexpectedly tangled in a criminal underbelly.
In addition to these dated movies, Depp has also been said to be appearing in the first English-language adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Russian literature classic The Master and Margarita, which centers on “the devil’s reappearance in Moscow, along with a talking cat named Behemoth and other unsavory characters who create havoc among the corrupt citizens of the city.” He is also rumored to be playing Satan a re-teaming with The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnasus’ visionary director Terry Gilliam on the fantasy, Carnival.
Release Date
November 13, 2026
Writers
Nathaniel Halpern, Charles Dickens
Producers
Emma Watts