Johnny Depp’s ‘Ebenezer’ Unearths $1.5M in Box Office Previews

Johnny Depp‘s push for a career comeback is underway at the box office with the holiday-themed ghost story Ebenezer.

Paramount Pictures releases Ebenezer in more than 3,500 North American theaters on Friday, with the movie grossing $1.5 million from Thursday previews. The studio projects director Ti West’s spooky adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to collect $20 million domestically and add another $20 million internationally from 63 worldwide markets. Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley and Ian McKellen round out the cast for the $38 million-budgeted feature that stars Depp as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge.

Ebenezer marks Depp’s return to studio fare following negative headlines surrounding his and ex-wife Amber Heard‘s messy 2022 defamation trial and abuse allegations that Depp has denied. His most recent studio release was 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, as Warner Bros. dropped him from that franchise two years later after the actor lost a libel suit against the publisher of The Sun.

The film has divided critics, as it holds a 52 percent approval from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Frank Scheck declares that Ebenezer “fulfills its ostensible goal of restoring the actor to A-list status.”

Another major release is Amazon MGM Studios’ How to Rob a Bank, hitting 2,810 domestic theaters. Filmmaker David Leitch’s heist movie nabbed $900,000 in previews and is expected to launch in the high single digits in North America against a $40 million budget.

How to Rob a Bank has come up a bit empty with critics, holding a 33 percent approval on Rotten Tomatoes, with THR chief film critic David Rooney noting in his review that “the fun wears a bit thin.” Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz and Anna Sawai lead the ensemble cast for the movie about a group of bank robbers who document their exploits on social media.

Sony Pictures released Ghost Soldier in 2,558 North American locations on Wednesday, with director William Eubank’s action movie grossing $3.1 million over the two days, including Tuesday previews. The studio projects a $6 million five-day opening for the film that stars Jim Caviezel as a former Green Beret who must defend his Wyoming community against a corporate threat. Hailing from Mandalay Pictures, Ghost Soldier holds a 42 score from Rotten Tomatoes critics and a 90 from audiences.