Paramount Pictures released the first trailer for Ti West’s dark holiday reimagining Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol on Thursday, setting a November 13 theatrical release date. Johnny Depp headlines the film as Ebenezer Scrooge, marking his first major Hollywood studio project since 2018.
Johnny Depp’s Unannounced San Diego Comic-Con Appearance
Paramount Pictures did not book a traditional Hall H presentation or a formal panel for the film at San Diego Comic-Con. Instead, the studio opted for a guerrilla promotional strategy that relied on unannounced public appearances. Johnny Depp walked the sidewalks of the Gaslamp Quarter in full costume outside of a pop-up shop called Scrooge and Marley before heading into a separate media panel to introduce the trailer.
Sporting a long overcoat, top hat, old-age makeup, and a cane, the 63-year-old actor showed up at the convention installation on Thursday, July 23. Staying in character as the famously grumpy miser, Depp playfully engaged with the crowd. He questioned attendees about why they had gathered, asking if they had jobs and why they possessed so much free time before bidding them farewell with a characteristic dismissal.
In one unexpected moment on the convention floor, Depp’s Scrooge lightheartedly confronted a fan who had dressed up as his own iconic Pirates of the Caribbean character, Captain Jack Sparrow. Following the street appearances, the actor walked unannounced into Collider’s Directors on Directing panel—an event not organized by Paramount—and kicked off the official trailer release.
Inside Ti West’s Gothic Vision for Charles Dickens’ Classic
Director Ti West, known for building a strong reputation with horror favorites such as X, Pearl, and MaXXXine, brings a gothic, supernatural aesthetic to Charles Dickens’ 1843 holiday novella. The movie relies on Nathaniel Halpern’s screenplay to blend fantasy, comedy, and dark theatricality into a supernatural journey where Scrooge confronts his past.
The film’s marketing leans heavily into Depp’s extensive history of heavy physical transformations for celebrated cinematic roles. Promotional materials highlight characters like Jack Sparrow, Edward Scissorhands, and the Mad Hatter before displaying his transformation into the miserly protagonist. In the trailer itself, the character cuts an imposing, ragged figure.
“A stingy, penny-pinching, cantankerous, lonely old man whose sheer miserly nature leads him to despise Christmas & all things which engender happiness.”
GeekTyrant
The production design matches that darker tone, featuring lavish Victorian environments and creepy ghostly encounters rather than pure, unadulterated horror elements.
“The name you know, the story you don’t.”
Paramount Pictures, via Fanbolt
An Ensemble Cast Featuring Ian McKellen and Rupert Grint
Beyond the leading transformation, the film boasts a massive star-studded cast across supporting roles. Ian McKellen takes on the fitting role of Scrooge’s vengeful ex-business partner, Jacob Marley. McKellen spent just six days shooting his part as a ghost, but praised the collaborative atmosphere on set during an interview earlier in the year.
“He’s in spankingly good form, Effervescent, funny, irreverent, serious — all at the same time. It was a bit of a love fest, really. I fell in love with him. He’s very obliging to his fellow actors. [There was] a wonderful feeling on the set.”
Ian McKellen, via US Magazine
- Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley indiatvnews.com
- Andrea Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past Ghost of Christmas Past
- Tramell Tillman as the Ghost of Christmas Present Ghost of Christmas Present
- Daisy Ridley as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (and Emily Cratchit)
- Rupert Grint as Bob Cratchit indiatvnews.com
- Sam Claflin, Arthur Conti, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, and Charlie Murphy in additional supporting roles supporting cast members
Strategic Studio Risk and Hollywood Return Context
Choosing to launch the project via an unannounced sidewalk appearance and a borrowed media panel instead of buying out a massive convention presence represents a calculated financial maneuver for Paramount Pictures. Without committing millions to a formal presentation slot, the studio tested audience enthusiasm at a minimal cost. If the room reacts poorly to a guerrilla stunt, there is no official presentation to walk back; if the crowd roars, it secures instant global headlines at the price of a costume.
That lean approach arrives while Paramount manages broader corporate pressures. The studio signed a definitive agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in February and faces a temporary restraining order from a dozen state attorneys general amid corporate restructuring. Leaning on a viral street stunt rather than a traditional marketing blitz reflects a studio prioritizing efficient triage.
For Depp, the film represents a definitive reentry into mainstream Hollywood distribution. His career in major studio projects slowed considerably following his highly publicized seven-week defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard in the Fairfax County Circuit Court, which concluded with a verdict on June 1, 2022. While he directed the 2024 biographical drama Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness and promoted Jeanne du Barry internationally, Ebenezer stands as his first major studio acting role since 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Theatrical Release Plans and Upcoming Projects
Paramount Pictures will distribute Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol exclusively in theaters on November 13. Produced by Emma Watts for Paramount Pictures and Green Bean Pictures, the project positions holiday counter-programming around gothic supernatural fantasy rather than standard family sentimentality.
Following his turn as the nineteenth-century miser, Depp is already lined up for future studio work. He is attached to star in the 2027 action thriller Day Drinker, which reunites him with Penélope Cruz alongside cast members Madelyn Cline and Manu Ríos.
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