Love him or loathe him, Johnny Depp is back. Paramount held a number of press screenings for the scandal-plagued A-lister’s big Hollywood comeback feature, Ebenezer, over the last few days and the first reactions are hitting social media.
Ebenezer held its world premiere at the Whitby Hotel in New York City on Nov. 1. The film had its London premiere in Leicester Square on Monday night. Full critics reviews for the film drop on Nov. 12, but Paramount allowed people who had attended the various screenings to post brief reactions to the film on social media. Ebenezer hits theaters globally on Nov. 13.
The latest adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer is a more black comedy take on the trials and tribulations of one Ebenezer Scrooge. Set in Victorian London, the film follows Scrooge (Depp), a miserly businessman who has a particular hatred for Christmas. Scrooge goes on a redemption journey after being visited by three spirits.
The film has a stellar cast featuring the likes of Tramell Tillman, Ian McKellen, Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, Arthur Conti, Ellie Bamber and Henry Lloyd-Hughes.
Ebenezer is directed by Ti West, the filmmaker behind A24’s highly regarded X trilogy as well as The Roost (2005), Trigger Man (2007), The House of the Devil (2009), The Innkeepers (2011) and In a Valley of Violence (2016). Nathaniel Halpern wrote the screenplay.
There is a lot riding on Ebenezer for Depp. The film is the Oscar-nominated actor’s first mainstream Hollywood feature since the fallout from his divorce from Amber Heard and subsequent legal battles. Once one of the entertainment industry’s most bankable stars, Depp has barely worked since 2020, starring in the 2023 French film Jeanne du Barry, and directing and producing (but not starring) in the Italy-produced biopic Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness in 2024.
After Ebenezer, Depp is set to star in Lionsgate’s supernatural thriller Day Drinker in 2027.
See the social media reactions to Ebenezer below.