Paramount’s Ebenezer is starting to generate early buzz online after a series of press screenings, with first reactions appearing on social media as the studio ramps up its release. The film—positioned as a darker, black-comedy-leaning spin on Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol—stars Johnny Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge and is being framed by industry coverage as a major studio moment for the actor.
Press screenings, premieres, embargo, and release date
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount has held multiple press screenings for Ebenezer in recent days, with reactions now circulating online. The rollout dates cited in the report are:
- World premiere: Nov. 1 at the Whitby Hotel in New York City
- London premiere: held in Leicester Square on Monday night
- Full reviews: set to drop Nov. 12
- Global theatrical release: Nov. 13
Until the Nov. 12 review date, the conversation is being driven primarily by these early social-media impressions, not full-length critical write-ups.
A Dickens story, reframed as gothic black comedy
Ebenezer is described as the latest screen adaptation of A Christmas Carol, but with a tonal pivot toward black comedy and a more gothic, horror-adjacent feel. The core structure remains: the story follows Scrooge in Victorian London—a miserly businessman who hates Christmas—until he’s confronted by three spirits and pushed toward redemption.
Creative team and cast
Per THR, Ebenezer is directed by Ti West and written by Nathaniel Halpern. The same report references West’s prior work including the A24 X trilogy, plus The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers.
THR lists the film’s supporting cast as:
- Tramell Tillman
- Ian McKellen
- Rupert Grint
- Andrea Riseborough
- Sam Claflin
- Daisy Ridley
- Arthur Conti
- Ellie Bamber
- Henry Lloyd-Hughes
What early social reactions are saying (as reported by THR)
THR describes the early reactions it embeds as mixed, with some posts leaning enthusiastic about the film’s atmosphere and others pushing back on the overall result.
On the positive side, THR highlights social posts that describe the film in explicitly genre terms—calling it “gothic” and evoking a classic-leaning horror flavor such as “Hammer Horror”. In those same reactions, Depp’s performance is repeatedly singled out as a key attraction.
On the more skeptical end, THR also includes posts that suggest the film offers “nothing new” and that criticize the execution as “chaotic”—with a few reactions going further and labeling it “awful”. Taken together, the snapshot suggests Ebenezer may play less like a consensus crowd-pleaser and more like a divisive, stylistic remix of a frequently adapted story.
Industry context: a mainstream studio return for Depp
Beyond the reactions themselves, THR frames Ebenezer as Depp’s first mainstream Hollywood feature following the period marked by his divorce from Amber Heard and the legal battles that followed. The report notes that he has worked relatively little since 2020, citing Jeanne du Barry (2023), and Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness (2024), which THR describes as a directing/producing effort rather than an acting role.
What’s next
With full reviews due Nov. 12 and the global theatrical release set for Nov. 13, the early-reaction discourse is expected to be followed quickly by more comprehensive criticism once the next date on the calendar arrives.
THR also reports that, after Ebenezer, Depp is expected to star in Lionsgate’s supernatural thriller Day Drinker, listed for 2027.
