Johnny Depp Faces the Ghosts of Christmas in New ‘Ebenezer’ Trailer
Bah, humbug — spooky season may have just started, but Ti West and Johnny Depp are already looking toward Christmas.
Paramount Pictures has released a new trailer for Ebenezer, West’s supernatural reimagining of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, with Depp stepping into the role of Ebenezer Scrooge ahead of the film’s theatrical release on Nov. 13.
The familiar foundation remains intact: Scrooge is a bitter and isolated man whose life is interrupted by a series of supernatural visitors forcing him to confront his past, present and possible future. But the latest footage makes it increasingly apparent that West isn’t interested in delivering another traditional adaptation of the 1843 story.
Instead, Ebenezer appears to embrace the fact that Dickens’ Christmas classic has always been, at least partially, a ghost story.
The new trailer pushes the supernatural elements considerably further to the forefront, surrounding Depp’s Scrooge with spirits, gothic imagery and macabre encounters while maintaining an unexpectedly playful streak. There is almost a The Frighteners-style energy to portions of the footage, where ghosts can be threatening, strange and mischievous within the same sequence.
That combination also gives Depp plenty of room to bring his familiar eccentricity to Scrooge. His version of the character appears less like a straightforward recreation of previous interpretations and more like another peculiar Depp creation, balancing the character’s bitterness with wit, physical comedy and a mischievous quality as his increasingly bizarre Christmas Eve unfolds.
Ian McKellen appears as Jacob Marley, the deceased former business partner whose arrival serves as a warning that Scrooge will soon encounter three spirits. The trailer offers a larger look at the supernatural journey that follows, suggesting West is approaching those visitations with the visual language of gothic fantasy and horror rather than treating them simply as sentimental Christmas spectacle.
The ensemble also includes Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, Arthur Conti, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Charlie Murphy, with Tramell Tillman and McKellen.
West is an intriguing filmmaker to place behind a Dickens adaptation. The director has spent much of his career moving through different corners of horror, from The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers to the Western In a Valley of Violence and his X trilogy. Ebenezer gives him a recognizable piece of literary material whose ghosts, death and visions of mortality provide plenty of room to push deeper into genre territory.
The project is produced by Paramount Pictures in association with Domain Entertainment, with Wattsco and IN.2 Films behind the production.
For Depp, Ebenezer also represents his first starring role in a major Hollywood studio release since 2018. The actor previously introduced the film’s first trailer while appearing in character as Scrooge at San Diego Comic-Con in July.
The new trailer now provides a much clearer picture of what West and Depp have constructed together. The iconography may be immediately recognizable, but this doesn’t appear particularly interested in being the comfortable Christmas Carol audiences have watched countless times before.
Ghosts are coming for Ebenezer Scrooge again. This time, they look ready to have some fun with him first.
Ebenezer opens exclusively in theaters Nov. 13 from Paramount Pictures.
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