The film marks Depp’s first project from a major American studio since his controversial defamation trial with his ex-wife Amber Heard.

Johnny Depp at Paris Fashion Week 2025.Credit: Swan Gallet/WWD via Getty

Johnny Depp is mounting a Hollywood comeback.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star has been tapped to play Ebenezer Scrooge in Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic 1843 novella, Entertainment Weekly has confirmed.

Paramount Pictures is in final negotiations to produce the project.

The film will be directed by Ti West, best known for his recent trilogy of horror movie starring Mia Goth: X, Pearl, and Maxxxine.

The screenplay will be written by Nathaniel Halpern, best known for creating Prime Video’s sci-fi series Tales from the Loop (which featured an episode directed by West).

Ti West; Andrea Riseborough.Julien Hekimian/Getty; Theo Wargo/Getty

Andrea Riseborough is also attached to costar in Ebenezer, though her role is being kept under wraps.

The most prominent female roles in prior adaptations of Dickens’ story tend to be Scrooge’s ex-fiancée, Belle, and Mrs.

Cratchit, the wife of Scrooge’s employee Bob Cratchit. It’s also possible that Riseborough could portray any (or all) of the film’s triumvirate of ghosts.

A logline for the film calls it “A thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, following one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present and future and fight for a second chance.” Sounds like A Christmas Carol, all right!

Emma Watts will produce the film, and Stephen Deuters and Jason Forman will serve as executive producers.

Paramount aims to release the film Nov. 13, 2026. That date positions Ebenezer against an untitled Blumhouse horror project, coming a week after Warner Bros.’

animated Cat in the Hat and a week prior to Lionsgate’s star-studded Hunger Games prequel Sunrise on the Reaping.

Ebenezer will mark Depp’s first film by a major American studio since his controversial legal battle with ex-wife Amber Heard, which ended in 2022 after a jury found that Heard had defamed the Chocolat actor in a 2018 Washington Post op-ed that claimed he abused her.

After Heard appealed that verdict, the two actors settled the case later that year.

Johnny Depp at the ‘Jeanne du Barry’ premiere in London.Neil P. Mockford/Getty

Depp has been involved in a few film projects since the trial, including Maïwenn’s 2023 French-language historical drama Jeanne du Barry and his upcoming directorial project Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness, starring Al Pacino.

The latter project will release in theaters Nov. 7.

Depp is also starring in Lionsgate’s Day Drinker, from director Marc Webb.

The film marks Depp’s fourth collaboration with Penélope Cruz. No release date has been announced for the project.