Depp Tapped to Play Scrooge
In late November 2026 we could be seeing a new film version of A Christmas Carol starring Johnny Depp in the lead role. Horror film maker Ti West is reportedly in final negotiations with Depp and soon to begin production of the film.
Dicken’s A Christmas Carol is ultimately a ghost story. Depp’s penchant for taking on the eccentric in his characters could make this one of the more memorable versions of Scrooge yet.
Depp may have competition when it comes to Scrooge in 2026 as Nosferatu director Robert Eggers has an adaptation of A Christmas Carol in the works for Warner Bros., with Willem Dafoe in line to play the title role in that version.
Despite the controversy that has surrounded Depp in recent years he brings considerable strengths to the role of Scrooge. Throughout his career Depp had demonstrated a gift for playing tortured, isolated characters haunted by their pasts—from Edward Scissorhands to Sweeney Todd.
His theatrical sensibility and willingness to fully commit to transformative performances align well with the demands of playing literature’s most famous miser.
The pairing with Ti West is particularly intriguing. West’s recent work has shown a director unafraid to let his actors lean into big, theatrical performances while maintaining tight control over tone and atmosphere.
Mia Goth’s work in West’s X trilogy demonstrated how his direction can channel potentially over-the-top performances into something genuinely unsettling and emotionally resonant.
If finalized, landing this role could spell a major comeback for Depp who has had a hard time since 2018 in Hollywood due to his highly publicized and media-covered divorce from Amber Heard. He won the case, but lost the industry in the process.
Depp has since starred in a handful of independent films (“Minamata,” “Jeanne du Barry”), and he recently shot the thriller “Day Drinker” for Lionsgate opposite Penélope Cruz, which is also expected to premiere in 2026.
Depp’s first film as a director since 1997’s “The Brave” — the biological drama “Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness,” starring Riccardo Scamarcio, Stephen Graham and Al Pacino — is due to open in U.S. theaters on Nov. 7.
Rumors also abound that Depp will return as Captain Jack Sparrow in the sixth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, likely due in 2027.
It appears that Johnny Depp – and A Christmas Carol – are back.
