Four years ago, Johnny Depp‘s fans and detractors descended on the sleepy town of Fairfax, Virginia, to cheer or jeer the actor in his ugly defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard. Now, when local cinema operator Mark O’Meara probes his patrons about “Ebenezer,” a new take on “A Christmas Carol” featuring Depp as the coldhearted miser Scrooge, he’s met with decidedly less intensity about the embattled star’s first major movie role in nearly eight years.
“Some people can’t wait. They love Johnny Depp. And others are just like, ‘Meh,’” says O’Meara, who owns Fairfax’s University Mall and Cinema Arts theatres. “I don’t think it’s a polarizing thing.”
“Ebenezer” isn’t expected to ignite the box office à la “Michael,” a musical biopic about a controversial figure. The Dickens adaptation, which opens on Nov. 13, is tracking a modest debut of about $20 million domestically and another $20 million overseas from 63 markets. But O’Meara doesn’t get the sense the public sees Depp as persona non grata, even though the actor’s career has been derailed by personal drama, including domestic abuse allegations leveled by Heard.
Paramount, meanwhile, is betting that moviegoers have been missing Depp, whose last Hollywood outing was 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” (He was forced by Warner Bros. to exit the “Harry Potter” spinoff series in 2020 after losing a libel case against the British tabloid The Sun, which called the actor a “wife beater.” Depp won the subsequent defamation trial in the U.S.) An April 2026 study by the National Research Group suggests his fans never turned on him. Participants ranked Depp among the top 10 actors — ahead of Tom Hanks and behind Margot Robbie — who “would make you most interested in seeing a new movie in a cinema in the future.”
“Audiences don’t care. He’s still one of the biggest movie stars on the planet,” says Kevin Goetz, founder and CEO of audience research firm Screen Engine/ASI. “That, to me, is very telling about how often Hollywood perpetuates its own self-fulfilling prophecies.”
As Hollywood has kept a distance, Depp has remained a popular figure around the world, receiving career achievement and tribute awards from international film festivals and retaining a $20 million brand deal with Dior. Onscreen, he has appeared in underseen indies like the 2020 drama “Minamata” and the 2023 period piece “Jeanne du Barry,” and he directed the 2024 biopic “Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness.” And Depp’s fans have been vocal on social media, supporting the actor through his professional struggles and bizarrely rallying in 2021 to nominate “Minamata” for the Oscars first (and only) fan favorite award.
Lately, the town seems willing to forgive Depp. His next film is Lionsgate’s 2027 action thriller “Day Drinker,” co-starring Penélope Cruz. Meanwhile Disney is looking into “Ebenezer” and the potential backlash, before greenlighting another “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie, according to sources. Depp has said he’s open to returning to the franchise, but he noted “the only involvement I really want to have, truly, is just to send them off on a better note.”
“Ebenezer” doesn’t need to electrify the masses to justify its price tag. Given the uncertainty, Paramount cautiously spent $38 million to produce the Dickens tale. Depp was paid $5 million, a fraction of what he’s earned on prior studio movies, with the promise of bonuses tied to box office performance. Marketing expenses were around $50 million, including stops at San Diego Comic- Con where the actor made a surprise appearance, dressed in character, and threw handfuls of candy at the foot of attendees. (Paramount declined to comment on budgets.) Directed by Ti West, known for the “X” horror trilogy, “Ebenezer” spins the oft-told yarn of the curmudgeonly businessman who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.
“I’m optimistic for a few reasons,” says Regal’s CEO Eduardo Acuna. “Even though this story predates him, it feels like the character was written for Johnny Depp. And it’s good IP from a very distinctive filmmaker.”
Cinema operators like Acuna suggest the box office haul will speak less to Depp’s appeal and more to the movie’s quality. After all, there’s been no shortage of takes on “A Christmas Carol.” Scrooge has been a staple of holiday moviegoing for decades, with popular versions including the 1951 classic with Alastair Sim and 1988’s “Scrooged” with Bill Murray. The most recent entry, Disney’s 2009 “A Christmas Carol,” starring Jim Carrey, brought in $325 million against an overinflated $200 million budget.
“It’s a story that’s been told a number of times, so it’ll be more about whether this one is compelling,” says Classic Cinemas CEO Chris Johnson. “I don’t know if I’ve heard anyone saying they won’t see it because of Johnny Depp. The public seems to be pretty forgiving.”
For Depp, embodying a misanthrope like Scrooge — in the trailer, he’s seen scaring villagers and being stingy with Christmas bonuses — jibes with the other offbeat or unlikable characters he’s spun into the stuff of contemporary cinema classics. His real-life rebellious persona has helped sell his most famous roles, from the chaotic Captain Jack Sparrow from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” eccentric Willy Wonka from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the mercurial Mad Hatter in “Alice in Wonderland.”
“Johnny’s image was built on being a bad boy,” Goetz says. “He ain’t America’s dad. We don’t want him to be that.”
English (US) ·