It’s the ghost of Hollywood’s Christmas past as Johnny Depp is back in his biggest film project since he was ostracized during a controversial and ugly defamation trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard.
Paramount Pictures, under the new leadership of David Ellison, is in final negotiations to take on a new version of the oft-adapted Charles Dickens film. A Christmas Carol.
Ti West, the horror filmmaker behind the X, Pearl And MaXXXine films, is attached to the production of the feature film entitled Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol. Paramount is set to set a release date of November 13, 2026.
Andrea Riseborough is also attached to star in the project which has a screenplay by Nathaniel Halpern. Emma Watts, who briefly headed Paramount’s film division, is the producer.
The studio describes the new film project as “a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’s London, following one man’s supernatural journey to confront his past, present and future and fight for a second chance.”
With Depp playing Ebenezer Scrooge, it seems like an apt description of the career trajectory of Depp, once one of Hollywood’s biggest and most profitable stars of the 21st century thanks to films such as Pirates of the Caribbean series, Alice in WonderlandAnd Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
But years-long defamation lawsuits on both sides of the Atlantic following his split from ex-wife Amber Heard resulted in a series of headlines that Hollywood found unappetizing, and Depp found himself on the outs with the studios. He was fired from Warner Bros. Fantastic Beasts franchise in 2020.
Depp turned his attention to non-American films and appeared in a period piece Jeanne du Barry. At the film’s premiere at Cannes in 2023, he was asked what Hollywood’s view of him was, to which he replied: “I don’t feel boycotted, because I don’t think about Hollywood. I don’t really feel the need for Hollywood anymore – I don’t know about you.”
His next move was a Hollywood half-step, starring in Day Drinkera thriller made by Lionsgate, which launched the project in international sales this week on the title at the American Film Market. The film was filmed earlier this year and is expected to be released in 2026.
The Depp-West package hit the Hollywood market this summer, ahead of Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount. Even then, Paramount was weighing the issue. But negotiations broke down when Skydance took over and began evaluating the vast array of film projects that were coming or about to get the green light. In the end, the Depp-West duo was deemed too hot not to resume.
