It was recently announced that Paramount Pictures has put a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol on the fast track, aiming for a theatrical release on November 13, 2026. Ti West, who recently directed the X, Pearl, and MaXXXine trilogy, will be directing Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol for Paramount, with Johnny Depp set to play Ebenezer Scrooge – and since the project was announced, we’ve heard that Depp is joined in the cast by Andrea Riseborough (Mandy), Ian McKellen of the X-Men and Lord of the Rings franchises, and Tramell Tillman of Severance. Now, Deadline has broken the news that Daisy Ridley (the Star Wars franchise), Rupert Grint (the Harry Potter franchise), Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones & The Six), Charlie Murphy (Halo), Arthur Conti (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), and Ellie Bamber (Willow) are also in the cast.
Thrilling Ghost Story
West will be directing the film from a screenplay by Nathaniel Halpern. Deadline reminds us, the classic Charles Dickens story has seen its fair share of retellings over the years with its tale of an elderly miser visited by the ghost of his former business partner and the spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. For his first major studio movie, West will be telling a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, following one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present and future and fight for a second chance. Depp will be playing Ebenezer Scrooge. We don’t know which roles most of his co-stars are taking on, but Deadline hears that Tillman’s role might be the Ghost of Christmas Present, while Grint is said to be playing Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s selfless employee.
Christmas Carols
Emma Watts is producing the film, with Stephen Deuters, Jason Forman, Adam Bohling, and David Reid serving as executive producers.
It’s sort of surprising to see Paramount moving full steam ahead on Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, because it was announced around five months ago that Nosferatu director Robert Eggers will be writing and directing a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for Warner Bros., with Willem Dafoe on board to play Ebenezer Scrooge. But the fact that Eggers is busy with his werewolf movie Werwulf, which is now filming, allowed Paramount to leap-frog ahead of that project.
Are you interested in Ti West’s Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol? What do you think of the cast that’s being assembled for this movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
