You there, boy, what day is this? Why, it’s Re-Depp-tion Day. True to form, Paramount/Skydance, the entertainment company currently speed-testing how quickly one conservative blogger can tear down a bedrock of American journalism, is going to see whether there’s still viability in one of the #MeToo era’s most persistent topics: Johnny Depp. Per Deadline, Pearl and MaXXXine director Ti West will determine whether Depp can learn a thing or two about his past behavior in a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ timeless tale of self-reflection, the annoyingly titled Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol. Depp will play the titular Ebenezer, and Oscar-nominee Andrea Riseborough has signed on, too.
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol will mark Depp’s return to mainstream studio fare after a seven-year time out, during which he spent his time suing ex-wife Amber Heard for saying that she survived an abusive relationship. The news comes 13 days after a London judge ruled in favor of a UK tabloid that labeled Depp a “wife beater,” per Reuters, in another one of Depp’s many libel and defamation cases. Nevertheless, if anyone can help Depp find redemption, it’s the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Christmas Yet To Come.
We don’t need to re-litigate the entire Heard-Depp trial, which helped set back whatever modest gains the #MeToo movement made toward preventing serial sexual harassers and abusers from holding positions of power. Since a Virginia jury found that Heard had defamed Depp, he’s been hunting for a comeback, buoyed by rumors of his returning to Disney for another Pirates Of The Caribbean. But it does seem fitting that the studio, recently acquired by David Ellison’s Skydance Media, which made explicit overtures to the Trump FCC’s war on woke to solidify its position, would be the one to get back into bed with Depp. He’s been slowly climbing the Paramount mountain. Depp recently wrapped filming a movie called Day Drinker, perhaps, an unfortunate title for a guy who told Rolling Stone in 2018 that he spends $30,000 a month on wine, co-starring Penélope Cruz, for Lionsgate.
Paramount hopes to have Ebenezer: A Star Wars Story A Christmas Carol in theaters on November 13, 2026, before director Robert Eggers finishes his version of Dickens, which is looking to nab Willem Dafoe for Scrooge.
