Four years ago, fans and detractors of Johnny Depp descended on the sleepy town of Fairfax, Virginia, to cheer or jeer the actor in his vile defamation case against his ex-wife Amber Heard. Today, when local movie theater operator Mark O’Meara polls his patrons about “Ebenezer,” a new version of “A Christmas Carol” starring Depp as the cold-hearted miser Scrooge, he encounters noticeably less intensity about the struggling star’s first major movie role in nearly eight years.
“Some people can’t wait. They love Johnny Depp. And some people just say, ‘Meh,'” says O’Meara, owner of University Mall and Cinema Arts theaters in Fairfax. “I don’t think it’s a polarizing thing.”
“Ebenezer” is not expected to set the box office on fire like “Michael,” a musical biopic about a controversial figure. The Dickens adaptation, which opens Nov. 13, is off to a modest start of about $20 million domestically and another $20 million overseas from 63 markets. But O’Meara doesn’t feel the public views Depp as persona non grata, even though the actor’s career has been derailed by personal drama, including Heard’s allegations of domestic violence.
Paramount, meanwhile, is betting that moviegoers miss Depp, whose last Hollywood outing was “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” in 2018. (He was forced by Warner Bros. to leave the “Harry Potter” spinoff series in 2020 after losing a libel suit against British tabloid The Sun, which called the actor a “wife beater.” Depp won the case by defamation that followed in the United States.) An April 2026 study by the National Research Group suggests that his fans never turned against him. Participants ranked Depp among the top 10 actors – ahead of Tom Hanks and behind Margot Robbie – who “would most interest you in seeing a new movie in a theater 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 company Screen Engine/ASI. “That, to me, is very telling of how often Hollywood perpetuates its own self-fulfilling prophecies.”
While Hollywood kept its distance, Depp remained a popular figure around the world, receiving career awards and tributes from international film festivals and maintaining a $20 million brand contract with Dior. On screen, he has appeared in little-known independent films 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 in his professional struggles and bizarrely coming together in 2021 to nominate “Minamata” for the first (and only) fan favorite award at the Oscars.
Lately, the city seems ready to forgive Depp. His next film is Lionsgate’s 2027 action thriller, “Day Drinker,” starring Penélope Cruz. Meanwhile, Disney is studying “Ebenezer” and potential backlash, before greenlighting another “Pirates of the Caribbean” film, according to sources. Depp said he was open to returning to the franchise, but he noted that “the only involvement I really want to have, really, is just sending them out on a better note.”
“Ebenezer” doesn’t need to electrify the masses to justify its price. Given the uncertainty, Paramount prudently spent $38 million to produce Dickens’ tale. Depp received $5 million, a fraction of what he earned on previous studio films, with the promise of bonuses tied to box office performance. Marketing expenses totaled approximately $50 million, including stops at the San Diego Comic- Con where the actor made a surprise appearance, dressed in character, and threw handfuls of candy at the feet of attendees. (Paramount declined to comment on budgets.) Directed by Ti West, known for the “X” horror trilogy, “Ebenezer” tells the oft-told story of the grumpy businessman who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.
“I’m optimistic for several reasons,” says Regal CEO Eduardo Acuna. “Even though this story predates him, it feels like the character was written for Johnny Depp. And it’s a good intellectual property from a very distinctive filmmaker.”
Cinema operators like Acuna suggest that the box office result will be less a testament to Depp’s appeal than to the film’s quality. After all, there’s no shortage of versions of “A Christmas Carol.” Scrooge has been a staple of Christmas movies for decades, with popular versions including the 1951 classic starring Alastair Sim and 1988’s “Scrooged” starring Bill Murray. The most recent entry, Disney’s 2009 “A Christmas Carol,” starring Jim Carrey, grossed $325 million against an inflated budget of $200 million.
“It’s a story that’s been told many times, so it’s going to be more a question of whether it’s compelling,” says Chris Johnson, CEO of Classic Cinemas. “I don’t know if I’ve heard anyone say they won’t see it because of Johnny Depp. The public seems pretty forgiving.”
For Depp, playing a misanthrope like Scrooge – in the trailer, we see him frightening the villagers and being stingy with Christmas bonuses – fits in with the other offbeat or unsympathetic characters that he has transformed into classics of contemporary cinema. His truly rebellious persona helped sell his most famous roles, from the chaotic Captain Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean,” to the eccentric Willy Wonka in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and the mercurial Mad Hatter in “Alice in Wonderland.”
“Johnny’s image was built on the fact that he was a bad boy,” says Goetz. “He’s not America’s father. We don’t want him to be.”
Gn entert
