'Cancelled' star Johnny Depp is making a big Hollywood comeback

Johnny Depp stars as Ebenezer Scrooge in 'Ebenezer,' a new adaptation of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' directed by Ti West, marking his first major studio release since his 2022 defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. The film, which also stars Ian McKellen, Andrea Riseborough, Tramell Tillman, Rupert Grint, Sam Claflin, and Daisy Ridley, is currently playing in theaters.

Critical reception has been predominantly negative. According to Yahoo, the film holds a 50 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 70 reviews and a 47/100 score on Metacritic. IndieWire's David Ehrlich wrote that Depp's performance is "an advent calendar of empty affectations without a soul to anchor them, every shot full of face and bereft of feeling," adding that "He seems to have become very bad at acting." Consequence's Liz Shannon Miller compared Depp unfavorably to Michael Caine's turn in 'The Muppet Christmas Carol,' writing that Depp "utterly fails at capturing Ebenezer's transition towards kindness; it's just the same performance, with a bit more goofiness in the mix."

TheWrap's Amelia Emberwing criticized Nathaniel Halpern's screenplay, stating its "attempts at humor are all whiffs" and citing its "reliance on second-screen dialogue that has zero faith that its audience will be looking up from their phones." Vulture's Alison Wilmore noted the overall film is "pretty good" aside from Depp, who she says is "doing a tiresome variation on the mugging that's become his primary approach to acting ever since the role of Captain Jack Sparrow." RogerEbert.com's Matt Zoller-Seitz called the film "skillfully done" with "retro-classical style" but said Depp's "standard Marlon-Brando-in-latex bag of tricks is all wrong for a work of such delicacy."

Some reviews offered qualified praise. Variety's Guy Lodge wrote Depp "makes for a perfectly solid, by-the-book Scrooge — with occasional moments of ripe inspiration in his line readings," though he noted the movie is "too frightening for many children and too old hat for many adults." The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck wrote that while the film "doesn't break any new ground," it "fulfills its ostensible goal of restoring the actor to A-list status," adding that Depp's "charisma and star power eventually come through." Yahoo also reported the film is eyeing a $22 million opening weekend, which would be Depp's first No. 1 debut in eight years.