Johnny Depp has made a powerful return to Hollywood with the dark Gothic reimagining of A Christmas Carol, marking a major comeback in his acting career.
In the world of Hollywood, nothing is more seductive than a comeback. For Johnny Depp, that moment has now come at a grand scale. The actor’s evolution from European art house cinema to a big studio production such as Paramount’s “Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol” is a remarkable twist in his career, combining his artistic roots with broad commercial appeal.
Set for theatrical release on November 13, 2026, the movie claims that it’s a “riveting, terrifying reimagining” of Charles Dickens’ 1843 classic novella. This version explores the eerie supernatural origins of the traditional tale and turns it into a thriller ghost tale somewhat reminiscent of more traditional holiday the theatre narratives.
From Ti West, the visionary behind the acclaimed atmospheric horror gems X, Pearl, and MaXXXine, comes this take that is sure to be a “technicolor nightmare.” West’s talent for infusing psychological terror into period pieces makes him the ideal auteur to reimagine Victorian London as a desolate, alien, and horrifying place.
Depp is set to take on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, a character he has been a longtime fan of, particularly Alastair Sim’s 1951 version. But sources say Depp has a “different angle” in mind, emphasizing the internal haunting rather than the external, and the emotional heft of a “night of reckoning.”
Paramount isn’t just banking on Depp’s “bankability”; they’ve surrounded him with a “who’s who” of franchise royalty that it will surely cover all demographic bases.
Read More 👉 The Pitt Season 2: Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Medical Drama
The timing of this release is a lesson in studio politics. Releasing in mid-November, Paramount sidesteps the December “family film” stampede and gives this supernatural thriller a chance to build a long-term presence on the box office. It also makes Depp’s return perhaps the key event of the 2026 awards season.
Strangely, this will set up a “Scrooge Showdown,” as Warner Bros. is said to be working on its own shadowy version with Robert Eggers (The Witch). Yet with West’s gift for “elevated horror” and a screenplay by Nathaniel Halpern, Paramount takes the bait as the “thriller” audience to catch.
The story of Ebenezer Scrooge’s turnaround feels especially powerful when taken alongside Johnny Depp’s career trajectory. It’s a curious layer to the film’s overall appeal, as moviegoers may be swept into a compelling fictional redemption arc while Depp makes a real-world career comeback, merging storytelling with the actor’s personal and professional revival. This two-faced approach not only adds narrative depth but also gives the marketing strategy an extra layer of tactical complexity.
Depp has a busy schedule and Ebenezer has only one date. He just finished the Lionsgate thriller Day Drinker with Penélope Cruz and the makers of his directorial effort, Modi, are seeing the light of theaters.
Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol doesn’t have the feeling of being a routine adaptation, as much as that can be said about any retelling of that story. In bringing together Johnny Depp’s long-promised return to studio filmmaking with Ti West’s unsettling vision, Paramount is going to go with atmosphere over nostalgia, and introspection over sentimentality.
The film’s darker perspective along with the prestige-laden cast and strategically timed release makes the film a commercial risk and an awards season conversation piece.
More to the point, it turns a well-worn ghost story into something deeply resonant and of the moment — a story of reckoning, isolation, and second chances. If it sticks, it won’t just be Depp’s comeback, it could be a way of reimagining how classic literature can be adapted for modern, thrill-seeking audiences.
Fandomfans is providing celebrity updates on their upcoming movies, our goal is to focus on film story and cast.
Chris Hemsworth's Extraction 3 is finally on the cards! Find out filming news, delay reasons, cast information, and what to expect from the next Netflix blockbuster.
Director Sam Hargrave has revealed details about Extraction 3 and it seems like the fans will have to wait a little longer. At the Apple TV+ premiere of his series “The Last Frontier,” Hargrave mentioned in passing that production is slated to begin in 2026. “We roll cameras in 2026, we’ll see how it goes,” which sounds like there’s still some leeway in the date. The most big issue of the delay and Hargrave let his fans wait for the next part of Extraction due to Chris Hemsworth’s busy schedule, especially with his Marvel Avengers films.
Production hold-up is due to several disagreements. Chris Hemsworth stressed the need to make the story-to-script right, telling Collider, “We just wanna make sure that we’ve got it right, that we’ve got a script that’s good enough to go follow the last two, because I am really proud of what we’ve done previously”.
The creative team is now concentrated on the development of the script and the story. As Joe Russo explained, “We’re in the process of writing that story right now. Hard at work”. In addition to this, managing Hemsworth’s busy agenda, including his Marvel obligations, also extended the timeline.
The Extraction franchise has become the best action thriller series on Netflix. The original 2020 film was watched by more than 99 million households in its first month, shattering Netflix records and becoming the platform’s most-viewed original film at the time.
Extraction 2, was released in June 2023, continuing the success with more than 85 million views within its first ten days. The franchise broke the record by being the first movie series to hold Netflix’s no.1 and no.2 spots for two straight weeks.
The films follow Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth), a black ops mercenary with a troubled past. Extraction had him rescuing the kidnapped son of an Indian crime lord in Bangladesh. Extraction 2 featured a risky prison extraction in Georgia, where Rake saved his ex-wife’s sister and her children from her violent gangster husband.
Read More 👉 HBO’s Next Big Move: Why A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Marks a Turning Point for Game of Thrones
Extraction 3 is due to start immediately after the end of the second film, opening up with the cliffhanger ending. Tyler and Nik were released after a harrowing mission in Georgia when Idris Elba’s mysterious character, Alcott, intervened. But there’s a catch: he’s got a new job for them, as Digital Spy stated, from his shadowy and apparently ultra-hard boss.
Joe Russo has teased not only Idris Elba’s role will be a big one this time around, but the actor is going to have some interesting dynamics with Chris Hemsworth’s character. If you liked the chemistry this duo in Extraction 2, rest assured this sequel will serve more of that cocktail. Plus: Alcott’s employer, who is called a “gnarly motherfucker.” Sounds like there’s a lot of action and mystery right up my alley!
Director Sam Hargrave and writer Joe Russo have now revealed some exciting new information regarding Extraction 3, teasing that the story is going to explore more of Tyler Rake’s emotional state. Russo said Tyler’s character is interesting because he’s emotionally wounded, and his relationship with violence is motivated by self-loathing and guilt.
It sounds like there’s a lot of play in his backstory that can be told. Hargrave calls the series “a redemption story through sacrifice,” with Tyler seeking meaning through these high-stakes assignments. Fans will also be able to enjoy the series’ signature intense action sequences, all while getting an ever closer look at what makes Tyler tick. Looks like this next installment will bring a nice balance of heart-stopping thrills and tear-jerking moments.
Extraction 3 is going to be even more action-packed thrills with Tyler Rake back in the forefront ready to adapt to new challenges. Filming in 2026 with a story that promises an exciting continuation … but now, there’s a neat twist. Idris Elba joins the cast in a secret role tied to an influential employer, adding even more layers (and lore) to the franchised mythology. Viewers can expect explosive action, heartbreaking drama, and a new layer of mystery as the show takes us to new corners of its world. Looks like a lot more to look forward to here!
Explore Blue Moon (2025), Linklater's poignant film on art, loss, and time, featuring Ethan Hawke's career-defining portrayal of Lorenz Hart.
Richard Linklater is known for his temporal distortions, which he often varies over the course of decades, as in the Before trilogy or Boyhood. But in his 2025 magnum opus, Blue Moon, he does something radically different. He condenses the crushing burden of an entire career going down the tubes into a single confining night in the bowels of Sardi’s restaurant.
This movie is not simply a biopic, it’s a chamber piece on the brutal architecture of artistic mourning. It is March 31, 1943, and with these words the film memorializes the end of the Jazz Age, which was immediately supplanted by the “golden age” of the musical theater.
The setup is ruinously straightforward. Lorenz “Larry” Hart (an electric Ethan Hawke), the brilliant, jaded lyricist half of the legendary Rodgers and Hart team, is holding up the bar at Sardi’s.
Just across the street, his one-time soul mate and partner, Richard Rodgers, is debuting Oklahoma! with another partner, Oscar Hammerstein II. Hart must wait in the limbo of the restaurant, the muted applause he can hear is the sound of him being made redundant.
Linklater has said the film “Deals with a trauma that is, in a way, two-fold.”
This is not just a business split, it’s an artistic divorce between two men who defined an era together. Rodgers, the practical puppet master, had to change in order to live, to detach himself from Hart’s chaotic alcoholism and revue-style wit to something more formal and honest. Hart, the poetic soul of the roaring twenties, was just abandoned.
Read More 👉 Martin Gero and Amazon MGM Studios is looking for a New Cast for The Military Sci-Fi Series
The brilliance of Blue Moon is that it knows how to wait. According to The Guardian, Linklater and Hawke had been thinking about this film for more than ten years. Linklater famously told Hawke years ago,
“I’ll wait 10 years,”
Knowing the actor had to age into the role. To play the battered, gnome-like figure of the 47-year-old Hart, a guy worn down by drink and depression, he had to lose his youthful boyishness.
That prolonged timeline gives the film a deep, lived-in sadness. We see Hart desperately go through the motions of his old self — flirting, quipping, drinking trying to drown out the scary fact that the society he helped shape has no use for him anymore. He derides the “corny” nostalgia of Oklahoma! and cannot understand why the audience’s preference has moved away from his urbane sophistication to simple country sweetness.
“We all think we’re gonna run the table forever but tastes can change,” Linklater says in the production notes.
That is the film’s haunting thesis. Blue Moon is a monument to the “loser” of historical change. It’s a beautiful, sad recognition that sometimes even the most brilliant cultural architects find themselves trapped in the past, watching the future being built just down the street without them.
Blue Moon isn’t merely a movie — it’s an elegy. Linklater creates a haunting reflection on change, mourning and the slow brutality of time. The film, anchored by Ethan Hawke’s brilliant performance, reminds us that even the most brilliant creative minds can quickly become relics. It’s a masterwork of stillness, sorrow and storytelling: a paean to those who made the past even as they watched the future speed by.
Our daily coverage brings you the key takeaways, storytelling and pop-culture shifts from cinema. The Fandomfan’s mission is to assist you understand films not just as entertainment, but as cultural events that influence in the world of what we think.
