Johnny Depp’s first major-studio film in eight years is being sized up as a modest comeback bet rather than a return to event-movie status. Paramount’s Ebenezer, director Ti West’s expanded take on A Christmas Carol, is tracking for a domestic opening of around $20 million this weekend, with a similar overseas launch.
The number matters because it sits far below the actor’s peak. Between 2006 and 2011, three Pirates of the Caribbean films and Alice in Wonderland grossed more than $4 billion worldwide. For Ebenezer, a $20 million domestic start asks whether Depp still opens a film, or whether his value now lies in a longer, fandom-driven run.
The slide, in figures
Depp’s decline was already visible before his legal battles. The post-2011 run left a string of box office disappointments:
- The Lone Ranger — $260 million worldwide on a $225 million budget.
- Transcendence — $103 million worldwide.
- Black Mass — $99 million worldwide.
- Alice Through the Looking Glass — $276 million worldwide against a $170 million budget.
- Mortdecai — $37.3 million worldwide against a $60 million budget.
Even the franchise anchor weakened: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales made $794.8 million worldwide, below the previous instalment’s $1.04 billion. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald also slipped to $655 million after the first film’s $816 million.
Why the budget keeps this realistic
Ebenezer carries a reported net budget of $38 million, well under the $50–60 million budgets of earlier Depp flops such as Mortdecai and Black Mass. That does not make it cheap: marketing is reported at another $50 million, including a San Diego Comic-Con appearance where Depp stayed in character as Scrooge.
The lower production outlay gives Paramount room to treat the film as a holiday hold rather than a three-day sprint. The studio’s hope is that word-of-mouth and nostalgia around Depp’s performance keep it running into December.
If the film does hold, it could matter beyond one title. Depp, now 63, has Lionsgate’s Day Drinker opposite Penelope Cruz already lined up, and Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer has said the actor has been in talks with Disney about playing Jack Sparrow again.
The weekend around it
Ebenezer is not the only release being watched on opening weekend. Amazon MGM’s How to Rob a Bank, a comedic action thriller starring Nicholas Hoult, is tracking for a domestic opening in the low teens. It cost $60 million, down sharply for director David Leitch from The Fall Guy, which made $181 million against a $125 million budget. With Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping and a buzzy Godzilla Minus Zero arriving next weekend, the theatrical window is about to get crowded fast.
For Depp, the domestic number is the first real signal: not whether he is back at the top, but whether a loyal fanbase and a holiday frame can turn a $20 million start into a sustainable run.
Source: TheWrap
