Johnny Depp Faces Three Ghosts in First Trailer for Ti West’s Ebenezer
It’s beginning to look a lot like… horror.
The first trailer for Ti West’s Ebenezer has finally arrived, offering a haunting new take on Charles Dickens’ timeless classic A Christmas Carol. Best known for directing modern horror favourites X, Pearl and MaXXXine, West is stepping away from his slasher roots, but not from the supernatural. Instead, he’s embracing the ghost story that has been hiding in plain sight for more than 180 years, with Johnny Depp taking on the iconic role of Ebenezer Scrooge.
Set to arrive in cinemas on November 13, 2026, Ebenezer is being released by Paramount Pictures, with the first trailer teasing a darker, more atmospheric interpretation of Dickens’ famous tale. The film’s tagline, “The name you know. The story you don’t.”, suggests audiences can expect more than a straightforward retelling, leaning into the eerie, gothic elements that have always existed beneath the story’s festive surface.
Joining Depp is an impressive ensemble cast that includes Andrea Riseborough (Possessor), Sir Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings), Tramell Tillman (Severance), Rupert Grint (the Harry Potter series), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games), Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders), Arthur Conti (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) and Ellie Bamber (Willow). While the trailer keeps many of their roles under wraps, it makes clear that this won’t be a one-man show, surrounding Scrooge with a cast capable of bringing Dickens’ Victorian London to life.
According to the official synopsis, Ebenezer is described as “a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London”, following one man’s supernatural journey as he confronts his past, present and future in a desperate attempt to earn a second chance. It’s a premise audiences know well, but one that appears to be filtered through Ti West’s distinctive eye for atmosphere, slow-burning tension and unsettling imagery. Nathaniel Halpern has adapted the screenplay, with Stephen Deuters and Jason Forman serving as executive producers.
Although A Christmas Carol has been adapted for film and television countless times, relatively few versions have fully embraced the fact that it is, at its heart, a ghost story. Dickens fills the novella with restless spirits, chains, supernatural visions and terrifying warnings of death and damnation. Those elements have often taken a back seat to the story’s festive redemption, but West appears keen to restore the balance. Judging from the trailer, Victorian London is drenched in shadow, the ghosts are genuinely unsettling, and the supernatural encounters carry far greater menace than audiences may expect from a traditional Christmas adaptation.
Ebenezer to add West’s horror polish?
It’s an interesting direction for a filmmaker who has become one of modern horror’s most recognisable voices. Across the X trilogy, West demonstrated a talent for blending genre thrills with rich character work and period detail, and Ebenezer looks to continue that trend by treating Dickens’ classic as both a psychological drama and a gothic horror film. Rather than reinventing the story entirely, the trailer suggests West is simply peeling back the layers to reveal what has arguably always been there.
That approach makes perfect sense when you consider the source material. Published in 1843, A Christmas Carol has inspired generations of filmmakers, with memorable adaptations including Scrooge (1951) starring Alastair Sim, Scrooge (1970) with Albert Finney, A Christmas Carol (1984) featuring George C. Scott, Scrooged (1988) with Bill Murray, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) starring Michael Caine and Robert Zemeckis’ motion-capture A Christmas Carol (2009) led by Jim Carrey. Despite their differences in tone, each adaptation centres on Dickens’ enduring message of redemption, while varying in just how frightening Scrooge’s supernatural visitors become.
With an acclaimed horror director behind the camera, Johnny Depp leading a stellar cast and a trailer that fully embraces the ghostly roots of Dickens’ masterpiece, Ebenezer is shaping up to be one of the most intriguing genre releases of the autumn. Whether it ultimately becomes a Christmas classic or simply one of the year’s most unusual horror films remains to be seen, but if the trailer is any indication, audiences should prepare for a visit from three spirits unlike any they’ve encountered before.
