New ‘Ebenezer’ Trailer Leans Into the Ghosts of Ti West’s Gothic ‘A Christmas Carol’
Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ may be the most adapted holiday story ever told, with notable versions including the 1951 ‘Scrooge’ with Alastair Sim, the 1984 take with George C. Scott, ‘Scrooged’ and a Muppet musical. That crowded field raises an obvious question for any new version: what is left to say? Director Ti West seems to have an answer, and it is built around the story’s ghosts.
West is best known for the horror trilogy ‘X’, ‘Pearl’ and ‘MaXXXine’. For his Dickens project, he teamed with screenwriter Nathaniel Halpern, producer Emma Watts and Paramount Pictures. The studio’s tagline, “The name you know, the story you don’t,” signals that the film expands on familiar elements of the novella.
Paramount has now released a fresh trailer with the news that the film arrives in theaters on Nov. 13. The new footage leans further into the ghosts, gloom and strange comic energy of West’s version. It runs about 2 minutes and 33 seconds, with Johnny Depp’s Ebenezer Scrooge at the center.
The trailer follows an earlier teaser that debuted over the summer. At the time, it showed Depp’s Scrooge as a grouchy, snowball-throwing miser, and Variety noted that West told a CinemaCon crowd that his exposure to certain ‘A Christmas Carol’ adaptations gave him some of his earliest glimpses of the horror genre. The Playlist described the new footage as a darker, ghostlier take, with Depp giving Scrooge humor, nastiness and just enough logic to make him harder to dismiss.
Think you know his story? Think again. Johnny Depp is Ebenezer Scrooge. The spirits arrive in the official new trailer for EBENEZER – only in theatres November 13. pic.twitter.com/cb6p9JBq9C
— Ebenezer (@ebenezermovie) October 1, 2026
The ensemble is led by Depp, with Andrea Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Tramell Tillman of ‘Severance’ as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Ian McKellen plays Jacob Marley, and The Playlist noted that this is surprisingly his first appearance in any ‘A Christmas Carol’ adaptation after decades of British stage and screen work.
Rupert Grint plays Bob Cratchit, and Sam Claflin plays Scrooge’s nephew, Fred. The cast also includes Daisy Ridley, Arthur Conti as young Ebenezer, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Charlie Murphy. It is Depp and Ridley’s second film together, after ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ in 2017.
Earlier footage shown at CinemaCon gave a clearer sense of the tone. According to TheWrap, Riseborough’s ghost is white and bald and appears to wear a wedding dress, while Tillman’s ghost is deathly ill with an exposed ribcage. The report said the footage keeps some of the humor audiences associate with Depp’s other characters, but the spirits themselves are dark and frightening.
iHorror described the first trailer as a reminder that ‘A Christmas Carol’ is a ghost story, noting that West changes the temperature of the tale rather than turning up the volume. The film was shot in London and Dublin. It is described as a Christmas gothic dark fantasy, set in Dickens’ London.
Reactions to the trailers have been mixed. On one fan forum, some viewers said they hoped for a more gothic take given West’s involvement, while others felt Depp was handling the comic side of Scrooge well. Others pointed out that the first trailer leaned hard into the line about being back, a nod to Depp’s return to major studio filmmaking.
Variety framed ‘Ebenezer’ as Depp’s first major Hollywood role since his 2022 trial against Amber Heard. His career has also included international films such as ‘Minamata’ and ‘Jeanne du Barry’, and he directed ‘Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness’. The film also faces a rival Dickens project, with a Warner Bros. adaptation in development from director Robert Eggers, reportedly starring Willem Dafoe.
Paramount’s ‘Ebenezer’ will open nationwide on Friday, Nov. 13, giving it a prime spot ahead of the holiday season. Paramount’s marketing positions it as a theatrical event, and the new trailer is meant to build momentum with a darker tone than most family-friendly versions. Whether it lands as a gothic ghost story or a star-driven holiday comedy will depend on how West balances the two.
With about 6 weeks until release, more promotion is likely, including posters, clips and press appearances from the cast. For now, the new trailer gives fans a clear look at the film’s mood and a cast that spans several generations of British and American screen favorites. If the early footage is any indication, this is a Scrooge story that wants viewers to be a little afraid.
What has you most intrigued about Ebenezer?
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