Ebenezer unwrapped $6.7 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, as star Johnny Depp‘s studio comeback vehicle looks to open in first place at the domestic box office.
Paramount Pictures released director Ti West‘s horror-tinged adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol in 3,535 North American theaters this weekend. Earning an A- CinemaScore from audiences, the $38 million-budgeted Ebenezer is expected to earn around $20 million for the frame or just under that. Of the opening Thursday night audience, 62 percent of the crowd was over age 30, suggesting that the film was especially appealing for those who likely have positive associations with seeing Depp’s films throughout the decades. Ebenezer earned 4.5 out of 5 stars on PostTrak, with 50 percent of moviegoers citing Depp as their reason for seeing the movie.
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 who is visited by three spirits. Ebenezer marks Depp’s first studio feature since 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, as he took a hiatus from high-profile work following abuse allegations from ex-wife Amber Heard that Depp has denied, in addition to negative headlines amid his and Heard’s 2022 defamation trial.
Paramount had been pleased with data suggesting that audiences want Depp back and that he still holds wide appeal, with the marketing including the actor appearing in character as Scrooge to remind fans of other transformative roles like Captain Jack Sparrow and Willy Wonka. Ebenezer has a PG-13 rating but is still geared toward the family crowd. Critics have been split on Ebenezer, as it holds a 53 percent approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes reviewers. 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.”
Pete Davidson (left) and Rhenzy Feliz in How to Rob a Bank.
Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Among other new arrivals, Sony Pictures released Ghost Soldier in 2,558 North American locations on Wednesday, with director William Eubank’s action movie expected to gross around $5 million for the three-day frame and a $8.1 million domestic cume. Jim Caviezel plays a former Green Beret who must defend his Wyoming community against a corporate threat. Hailing from Mandalay Pictures, Ghost Soldier holds a 42 percent score from Rotten Tomatoes critics and a 90 percent from audiences.
Not expected to bag much of a haul is Amazon MGM Studios’ How to Rob a Bank, as director David Leitch‘s heist movie grossed $2.2 million domestically on Friday, including Thursday previews, and eyes around $4.7 million for the frame. Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz and Anna Sawai star in the $40 million-budgeted ensemble film about a group of bank robbers who document their exploits on social media. It earned a B- CinemaScore.
How to Rob a Bank is opening well below Leitch’s recent work, including 2022’s Bullet Train ($30 million domestic debut) and 2024’s The Fall Guy ($27.7 million domestic debut), although those featured more proven box office draws in Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling, respectively. The new movie, which earned a B- CinemaScore, has come up a bit empty with critics. It holds a 33 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 80 percent audience score, with THR chief film critic David Rooney noting in his review that “the fun wears a bit thin.”
More to come.
