Johnny Depp's 'Ebenezer' Sets Sights on Box Office Crown in Star's Studio Comeback

Johnny Depp's return to studio filmmaking is off to a strong start. Ebenezer, Paramount Pictures' horror-tinged adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, collected $6.7 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, and is on course to open in first place at the domestic box office.

Directed by Ti West and playing in 3,535 North American theaters, the $38 million production is expected to earn around $20 million for the weekend, or just under that figure. Audiences have responded warmly, handing the film an A- CinemaScore and 4.5 out of 5 stars on PostTrak, with half of moviegoers citing Depp as their reason for buying a ticket.

Depp stars as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by three spirits. The supporting cast includes Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley and Ian McKellen.

The movie marks Depp's first studio feature since 2018's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. He had stepped back from high-profile work following abuse allegations from ex-wife Amber Heard, which Depp has denied, along with negative headlines surrounding the pair's 2022 defamation trial. Paramount had been encouraged by data suggesting that audiences want the actor back and that he retains wide appeal, and the marketing leaned into that by presenting him in character as Scrooge, evoking transformative past roles such as Captain Jack Sparrow and Willy Wonka.

Thursday night's crowd skewed older, with 62 percent of the audience over age 30, suggesting the film holds particular pull for viewers with fond memories of Depp's movies over the decades. Though rated PG-13, Ebenezer is still geared toward the family crowd. Critics have been divided, leaving the film with a 53 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Frank Scheck wrote that Ebenezer "fulfills its ostensible goal of restoring the actor to A-list status."

Among the weekend's other new arrivals, Sony Pictures opened Ghost Soldier on Wednesday in 2,558 North American locations. Director William Eubank's action movie, from Mandalay Pictures, is expected to gross around $5 million for the three-day frame, which would bring its domestic total to $8.1 million. Jim Caviezel plays a former Green Beret who must defend his Wyoming community against a corporate threat. The film holds a 42 percent score from Rotten Tomatoes critics, compared with 90 percent from audiences.

Amazon MGM Studios' How to Rob a Bank is not expected to bag much of a haul. Director David Leitch's heist movie grossed $2.2 million domestically on Friday, including Thursday previews, and is eyeing roughly $4.7 million for the frame. Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz and Anna Sawai star in the $40 million ensemble film about a group of bank robbers who document their exploits on social media.

The debut sits well below Leitch's recent work, including 2022's Bullet Train, which opened to $30 million domestically, and 2024's The Fall Guy, which launched with $27.7 million, though those films boasted proven box office draws in Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling, respectively. How to Rob a Bank earned a B- CinemaScore, a 33 percent approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics and an 80 percent audience score. THR chief film critic David Rooney noted in his review that "the fun wears a bit thin."