Paramount Pictures has unveiled the second trailer for “Ebenezer,” offering a darker look at director Ti West’s reimagining of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and Johnny Depp’s transformation into the famously grumpy Scrooge.
🎬 Watch the Trailer
The studio is teasing the film with a deliberately spare logline: “The name you know, the story you don’t.” The new footage suggests West is leaning heavily into the story’s supernatural side, as Depp’s holiday-hating character encounters frightening ghosts and is even shown being buried alive.
West is known for directing the horror trilogy “X,” and the “Ebenezer” trailer brings that spooky sensibility to the classic tale. Rather than softening Scrooge’s ghostly encounters, the preview puts their scarier elements front and center.
Johnny Depp Leads a Large Ensemble
Depp is joined by a sizable cast that includes Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, Arthur Conti, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Charlie Murphy, Tramell Tillman and Ian McKellen.
“Ebenezer” also marks a significant Hollywood studio return for Depp. The actor has not starred in a Hollywood studio film since 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” making the Paramount release his first such movie in eight years.
Depp was dropped from the third film in that franchise, “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” which was released in 2022.
His return follows his highly publicized 2022 trial against his former wife, Amber Heard. During the proceedings, Depp and Heard each accused the other of domestic abuse and defamation during their relationship.
Depp was ultimately awarded $10 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages from Heard. Heard, meanwhile, was awarded $2 million in compensatory damages.
A Horror-Driven Take on Scrooge
Although the new trailer revisits the recognizable figure of Scrooge, Paramount’s logline signals that “Ebenezer” is not being positioned as a straightforward retelling. The footage instead emphasizes menace, hauntings and physical peril as the central character is confronted by supernatural visitors.
That approach places West’s horror background at the heart of the adaptation. The second trailer’s images of terrifying ghosts and Scrooge’s live burial provide the clearest indication yet of how the filmmaker is approaching Dickens’ story.
For Depp, the film pairs a familiar literary character with an important new stage in his screen career. While “Ebenezer” is his first Hollywood studio starring vehicle since “The Crimes of Grindelwald,” it will not be his only upcoming studio release.
What Happens Next?
Paramount will release “Ebenezer” in theaters on Nov. 13.
Depp is then set to follow the film with Lionsgate’s thriller “Day Drinker.” That project also stars Madelyn Cline and Penélope Cruz and is scheduled to arrive in March 2027.