Johnny Depp Set for a Big Hollywood Return

Johnny Depp might be heading back to the big screen in a big way. According to Nexus Point News, he’s in final talks to play Ebenezer Scrooge in a new version of A Christmas Carol for Paramount Pictures.

The movie, titled Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, will be directed by horror filmmaker Ti West, known for Pearl and Maxxxine. The script was written by Nathaniel Halpern, who worked on Tales From the Loop and Legion.

Andrea Riseborough, who appeared in To Leslie and Oblivion, is also set to co-star. Emma Watts will produce the film, with Stephen Deuters and Jason Forman joining as executive producers.

If everything goes as planned, Paramount is aiming to release the movie on November 13, 2026 according to NPN. Depp will play Scrooge, the bitter old businessman from 19th-century London who gets visits from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Their goal, of course, is to help him avoid an eternity of misery.

Interestingly, Depp won’t be the only actor taking on the role soon. Nosferatu director Robert Eggers is also working on his own A Christmas Carol adaptation for Warner Bros., with Willem Dafoe reportedly in talks to play Scrooge.

This new project would be Depp’s first major studio role since 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. He left that franchise after losing a libel case against The Sun, which had called him a “wife beater” following accusations made by his ex-wife, Amber Heard. In a later U.S. trial, both actors were found to have defamed each other.

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