Paramount Pictures has released the first trailer for Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, director Ti West’s darker adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella. Johnny Depp leads the film as Ebenezer Scrooge, marking his first major studio role since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018.
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Nathaniel Halpern wrote the screenplay, which draws from the eerie and psychological elements of Dickens’ original ghost story. The trailer presents a bleak Victorian London filled with shadowy streets, hostile encounters and unsettling supernatural visitors. West approaches the familiar Christmas tale through the horror style that shaped films such as X, Pearl, The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers and The Roost.
Depp appears beneath heavy facial prosthetics, weathered makeup and long grey hair. His transformation gives Scrooge a balding head, an aged face and a severe presence. The footage shows him confronting townspeople, throwing a snowball and snarling his familiar response: “Humbug.”
The trailer opens with Depp declaring, “It’s good to be back.” Within the story, the line may refer to Scrooge’s experience following his supernatural encounters. Paramount also uses it to frame Depp’s studio comeback after his 2022 legal trial against his former wife Amber Heard.
West gives the three Christmas apparitions detailed and disturbing physical forms. The trailer presents them as threatening entities that push Scrooge through the consequences of his choices. Their designs bring a stronger sense of danger to scenes that many previous adaptations treated through fantasy, comedy or family entertainment.
Sir Ian McKellen plays Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s former business partner who returns as a ghost. Rupert Grint takes the role of Bob Cratchit. Andrea Riseborough, Tramell Tillman and Robert Strange portray the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Sam Claflin and Daisy Ridley also join the cast.
Hollywood has adapted A Christmas Carol many times across live action, animation, comedy and family film. Previous versions have featured Bill Murray, the Muppets and computer generated characters, while Nicolas Cage appeared in an animated interpretation. West brings his personal connection to horror into this new production.
During CinemaCon earlier this year, West explained that adaptations of A Christmas Carol gave him some of his earliest encounters with the horror genre. That connection guides his treatment of the material, especially through the ghost designs and the trailer’s oppressive atmosphere. Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol opens exclusively in cinemas on November 13, 2026, through Paramount Pictures.
