LOS ANGELES — The canon of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is perhaps the most over-adapted narrative in cinematic history. From Alastair Sim to Jim Carrey, the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge has been retold so frequently that its moral arc feels inevitable, its scares domesticated. Ti West, however, does not seek to domesticate. With his new project Ebenezer, the director of The Haunting of Helena and X is returning to his roots in atmospheric dread, transforming the festive classic into a stark, terrifying ghost story.

Starring Johnny Depp as the titular miser, Ebenezer is scheduled for theatrical release on November 13, 2026, through Paramount Pictures. The official trailer, which promotes the film with the ominous tagline “The name you know. The story you don’t,” suggests a departure from the whimsical specters of previous adaptations. Instead, this Scrooge is drawn into a supernatural journey through Victorian London, confronting his past, present, and future in a bid for redemption that feels more akin to a psychological exorcism than a holiday fable.

Nathaniel Halpern adapted the screenplay, working under West’s direction to distill the source material into a format that prioritizes tension over sentiment. The ensemble cast reads like a who’s who of British character actors and Hollywood stars, including Ian McKellen, Andrea Riseborough, Tramell Tillman, Rupert Grint, Daisy Ridley, Sam Claflin, Charlie Murphy, Arthur Conti, and Ellie Bamber. Their presence signals a production of significant scale, yet West’s signature style—marked by long takes, practical effects, and a suffocating sense of isolation—promises to keep the focus on the protagonist’s internal disintegration.

Executive producers Stephen Deuters and Jason Forman are attached to the project, bringing industry weight to what could easily become a niche curiosity. Instead, it positions itself as a major horror event. In an industry often hesitant to touch Dickens’ most famous work, fearing the baggage of its Christmas association, West’s approach is bold. He strips away the jolly trappings to reveal the underlying horror of a man consumed by greed and isolation.

Previous iterations starring George C. Scott, Bill Murray, and Michael Caine have explored the comedic or sentimental potential of the script. West’s version, however, leans into the uncanny. The narrative follows Scrooge’s supernatural journey not as a lesson learned through gentle persuasion, but as a traumatic confrontation with forces beyond comprehension. It is a reimagining that respects the text while radically altering its tone.

As the horror genre continues to embrace literary classics, Ebenezer stands out by refusing to wink at the audience. There is no irony here, only a cold, hard stare into the abyss of Scrooge’s soul. For West, a filmmaker who has built a career on exploring the fragility of the human mind, Dickens’ ghost story provides the perfect framework. It is a tale that has survived centuries not because of its festive cheer, but because of its enduring terror. West intends to remind us of that.