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Johnny Depp is starring in a major Hollywood movie for the first time since 2018
The first reactions to Johnny Depp’s performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in Ti West’s Ebenezer, his first Hollywood role since 2018, have begun to hit the internet. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Depp’s performance is largely being praised.
The Paramount film, directed by Ti West, will be released in movie theaters on Friday, November 13. Ahead of its release, critics and journalists have begun sharing their first impressions of the film, with Johnny Depp’s performance and the movie’s darker atmosphere drawing particular praise.
Johnny Depp’s performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in Ti West’s Ebenezer is earning praise in initial reactions to the film
FilmSpeak critic Tom Chatalbash called the film a “wickedly fun holiday treat,” praising Depp’s balance of comedy and emotion. JoBlo’s JimmyO similarly praised the actor’s performance, finding more emotional development in Scrooge than the trailers had suggested.
“Depp is a fiendish delight as Scrooge, delivering a lively performance that thankfully balances the goofy charm and emotional gravitas that has been sorely missed,” Chatalbash wrote.
UK Film Critic Phil Roberts added on social media that “Depp is magnetic throughout Scrooge’s soft redemption arc leading to a finale that delivers more emotional resonance than its predecessors.” Critics Choice member Clarence Moye agreed, saying that Depp was “great.”
Depp’s last major Hollywood studio release was 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, in which he played the villainous Gellert Grindelwald. He subsequently exited the franchise at Warner Bros.’ request in November 2020 after losing his British libel case against The Sun.
Mads Mikkelsen replaced him in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. Depp continued acting during his absence from big-budget studio productions. His projects included Minamata, in which he portrayed photographer W. Eugene Smith, and the French-language period drama Jeanne du Barry, in which he played King Louis XV. That makes Ebenezer Depp’s return to major Hollywood studio filmmaking for the first time in eight years.
Alongside Depp, the cast includes Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, Tramell Tillman and Ian McKellen. Ebenezer opens November 13.