Ebenezer, Paramount’s new spin to Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol, gave the world its first extended look at Johnny Depp on Friday, and the timing matters as much as the film itself. This is the actor’s first major studio project since he sat in a Virginia courtroom opposite Amber Heard back in 2022, a case that effectively pushed him out of mainstream franchise work for years.Ti West sits in the director’s chair this time, bringing the horror sensibilities he’s known for from horror trilogy X, Pearl and Maxxxine to a story most people associate with warmth and redemption. Depp’s version of Scrooge doesn’t read as redeemable, at least not yet. Ghosts drag him backward through his own history, and between hauntings, he takes his misery out on random strangers in the street, snowballs included. His closing line in the trailer, “It’s good to be back,” lands with an obvious second meaning given everything happening off-screen.Depp spent the years after the trial working mostly outside the studio system. Fantastic Beasts recast his role with Mads Mikkelsen. He picked up smaller international films instead, along with time behind the camera directing.Joining him in Ebenezer are Rupert Grint as Bob Cratchit, plus Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley and Ian McKellen. Depp has another film on the way too, the thriller Day Drinker, opposite Penelope Cruz and Madelyn Cline.Theatres get Ebenezer on November 13.