Ebenezer (2026 film)

Development and casting

In October 2025, Paramount Pictures announced a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol, with West directing from a screenplay by Halpern. Depp was cast as Scrooge, while Riseborough joined in an initially undisclosed role.^[10][5][11] Emma Watts was attached to produce through Wattsco. The film was later credited as a Wattsco and IN.2 Film production, presented by Paramount in association with Domain Entertainment.^[5][12][4] West, David Reid, Adam Bohling, Stephen Deuters, Jason Forman, Pete Chiappetta, Anthony Tittanegro, and Andrew Lary serve as executive producers.^[12][4]

In November 2025, Tillman and McKellen joined the cast.^[13] McKellen later confirmed that he played Marley and that Tillman portrayed the Ghost of Christmas Present; he said that his own work on the production lasted six days.^[8] In December, Grint, Ridley, Claflin, Murphy, Conti, and Bamber were added to the ensemble.^[14] The July 2026 trailer and accompanying publicity identified Grint as Bob Cratchit, Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Ridley as Emily Cratchit, Claflin as Fred, Conti as young Scrooge, and Bamber as Isabel Fezziwig.^[6][4][7]

Checco Varese served as the film's director of photography.^[15][16]

Filming

Principal photography began in January 2026, with Dublin and London listed as production locations.^[2] In February, Screen Daily reported that production was underway in the United Kingdom, with Watts producing and filming taking place in London.^[17] Depp and Riseborough were photographed filming together in London during the early part of the shoot.^[6]

Location filming also took place at The Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent. Creative England's Filming in England office reported that the production used the 80-acre historic site as well as additional English locations.^[18] The Dockyard has frequently been used to represent historical streets and waterfronts in film and television.^[18]

Marketing

Depp presented the first footage from the film during Paramount's CinemaCon presentation on April 16, 2026. West introduced the footage through a recorded message before Depp appeared onstage.^[19][20] Paramount described the footage as showing a dramatic and stylized reimagining of the Dickens story, while reports from the convention emphasized Depp's physical transformation into Scrooge and the combination of supernatural horror imagery and humor.^[19][21]

The first teaser poster was released on July 23, 2026, followed later that day by the official trailer.^[6][12] Depp promoted the film at San Diego Comic-Con through a surprise appearance in full Scrooge costume. He first interacted with fans at a snow-covered "Scrooge and Marley" installation in the Gaslamp Quarter and later interrupted a Hall H directors' panel to introduce the trailer in character.^[22][4][23]

The trailer presented the film as Depp's return to major American studio filmmaking. It referred to his earlier characters Jack Sparrow, Edward Scissorhands, and the Mad Hatter, before identifying him as the "master of misfits".^[12][6] The trailer also gave the first official look at McKellen as Marley, Grint as Cratchit, Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Ridley as Emily Cratchit, and Claflin as Fred.^[6] By July 25, the official Paramount upload had received more than 15 million views on YouTube.^[12]

Writing for The Guardian, Stuart Heritage noted that comments responding to Depp's return were largely approving, but criticized the campaign's framing of the film as his Hollywood comeback. Heritage also described Depp's Scrooge as an exaggerated variation on several of his familiar mainstream screen personas, while observing that the film appeared designed to provide the kind of performance his supporters expected.^[24]