The Ebenezer box office collection day 1 result is in, and it is a win Johnny Depp has waited eight years for. The gothic retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol took $6.7 million on Friday, including $1.5 million from Thursday previews, according to Deadline and Variety, and finished the day at No. 1 at the North American box office. It is Depp’s first chart-topping film since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018, and it puts the Ebenezer box office collection day 1 figure exactly where Paramount needed it to be: on top, with a holiday season still ahead of it.
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures — Official Trailer via YouTube
The film opened in cinemas in the United States and the United Kingdom on Friday, 13 November 2026, in more than 3,500 North American theatres. Trade tracking had pointed to a domestic opening weekend of $20 million to $25 million, and the Friday number keeps that target well within reach. The full weekend estimates arrive on Sunday, and they will decide how this opening is remembered — but the first day already answers the biggest question hanging over the film: audiences did show up for Depp’s return.
Ebenezer box office collection day 1 in five numbers
$6.7 million on Friday. That is the headline number for the Ebenezer box office collection day 1, and it includes the $1.5 million the film earned from Thursday preview screenings that began at 2 pm. Deadline and Variety both reported the Friday total, and it was enough to take the No. 1 spot outright on a Friday the 13th — a fitting date for a horror-tinged Christmas ghost story.
$1.5 million in previews. The Thursday preview figure landed almost exactly where trade trackers had pencilled it in. Previews are a small slice of the weekend, but they set the tone: a $1.5 million preview haul for a PG-13 Christmas film in mid-November pointed to a solid, if not spectacular, opening, and Friday confirmed that read.
3,535 theatres. Paramount opened Ebenezer wide, in 3,535 North American locations, according to the trade reports. That is a full studio rollout, not a cautious platform release, and it shows how much the studio has riding on the film. A wide opening also means the Friday figure is a genuine measure of demand, not an artefact of a small screen count.
$18 million to $20 million projected for the weekend. Variety projected a domestic opening weekend of $18 million to $20 million after the Friday number, with about another $20 million expected from 63 international markets. That would give the Ebenezer box office collection day 1 a worldwide opening near $40 million — roughly the size of the film’s reported production budget.
$38 million budget. Variety reported a production budget of $38 million, with roughly $50 million more spent on marketing, and Depp taking a reported $5 million salary tied to performance-based bonuses. By the standards of Depp’s 2010s studio vehicles, that is a strikingly low budget, and it is the reason a $20 million opening counts as a defensible start rather than a disappointment. The film does not need superhero numbers to work; it needs steady legs through the holidays.
How Depp took the No. 1 spot from Godzilla Minus Zero
The Ebenezer box office collection day 1 win came at the expense of Godzilla Minus Zero, which had topped the chart the previous weekend. The monster epic opened with $31.6 million, the biggest debut ever recorded for a live-action foreign-language film in North America, and it was still drawing crowds into its second weekend. Ebenezer moved past it on Friday, and the timing matters: a Christmas film opening in mid-November has weeks of holiday runway ahead of it, while its rivals are already a week into their runs.
The other new opener of the weekend, David Leitch’s heist thriller How to Rob a Bank, managed only $900,000 in its own Thursday previews, and trade reports described its opening as a flop. That left the frame effectively to Depp’s film, and the Ebenezer box office collection day 1 result shows it took full advantage. The question now is not whether the film tops the chart, but by how much — and whether families keep coming back once the opening weekend is over.
What the Friday figure means for Depp’s comeback
This is Johnny Depp’s first major studio lead in nearly eight years, and his first major Hollywood leading role since 2022. Paramount built the whole campaign around the return, sending Depp out in character as Scrooge at San Diego Comic-Con and leaning on his line from the first trailer — “It’s good to be back.” The Ebenezer box office collection day 1 figure is the first hard evidence that the campaign worked: roughly half of early ticket buyers said they bought tickets for Depp, according to audience polling reported in the trade press.
The stakes go beyond one star. Deadline noted that Ebenezer is the first big greenlight from Paramount’s new leadership since last year’s Skydance merger, which makes its opening weekend a test of the new regime’s instincts as much as Depp’s drawing power. A $20 million-plus debut for the Ebenezer box office collection day 1 on a $38 million budget would be a defensible start; anything above tracking would be a statement that the comeback has real commercial force behind it.
There is also a longer game here. A Christmas film that opens in mid-November can play for weeks, and Paramount is clearly hoping the film becomes a go-to ticket through December. With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up, the studio will be watching Saturday and Sunday closely: strong family turnout over the weekend would confirm the legs the film needs.
Critics are split, audiences are warmer
The reviews have landed right down the middle. Ebenezer debuted on Rotten Tomatoes at around 50 percent, with different counts putting it at 49 to 53 percent, and a Metacritic score of 47. Variety called the film spookily atmospheric but redundant, and several critics found Depp miscast as Scrooge. The audience response tells a different story: viewers gave it a 90 percent Rotten Tomatoes audience score, an A-minus CinemaScore and 4.5 stars on PostTrak.
That gap between critics and crowds is exactly the kind of split that can keep a film alive through word of mouth, especially one aimed at families looking for a darker Christmas option. The Ebenezer box office collection day 1 number suggests the audience enthusiasm is real, and if the word of mouth holds, the film could outrun its reviews through the holiday season.
The film itself: a haunted-house Christmas Carol
Directed by Ti West, the filmmaker behind the X trilogy of Pearl, X and MaXXXine, and written by Nathaniel Halpern, Ebenezer is a horror-tinged take on Dickens’ 1843 classic. Depp plays the miserly Scrooge, aged up under prosthetics, on the familiar supernatural journey through Christmas past, present and future. Ian McKellen plays Jacob Marley, Rupert Grint is Bob Cratchit, Daisy Ridley plays Emily Cratchit, Andrea Riseborough is the Ghost of Christmas Past, Tramell Tillman is the Ghost of Christmas Present, Sam Claflin plays Fred, Arthur Conti is the young Ebenezer and Ellie Bamber is Isabel Fezziwig. The film runs 116 minutes and carries a PG-13 rating.
West has turned the story into a haunted-house ghost story, full of candlelit corridors, jump scares and a Scrooge who looks genuinely frightened by the spirits visiting him. The tagline sums up the pitch in one line: “The name you know, the story you don’t.” It is not the gentle, fireside Christmas Carol most audiences grew up with, and that darker edge is part of why the film has divided critics while pleasing crowds.
Some overseas markets got the film a little earlier: Ebenezer opened in South Korea and France on 11 November, and in Germany and Australia on 12 November. There is no streaming debut alongside the theatrical release, and no confirmed streaming date has been announced yet. The film is expected to reach Paramount+ after its theatrical run, but that is an expectation, not an announced date. An India release date has been reported as 27 November, but Paramount has not confirmed it.
The weekend race and what Sunday will settle
The Ebenezer box office collection day 1 total has set up a straightforward weekend: a domestic opening near $20 million, a similar figure from international markets, and a worldwide start near $40 million. If the film lands at the top end of its range, it confirms the tracking and sets the film up for a long holiday run. Anything softer would leave Paramount leaning on December legs and international markets, where Depp’s name still carries weight.
Either way, the first day has already done something important: it has given Depp a No. 1 film again, eight years after his last one, and it has given Paramount’s new leadership a defensible opening for its first big bet. The full weekend estimates arrive on Sunday, and they will decide how this opening is remembered. For now, the Ebenezer box office collection day 1 figure stands as a steady, hard-won start — and for a comeback eight years in the making, that is a start worth noting.
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures — Official Trailer via YouTube
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did Ebenezer earn on day 1?
The Ebenezer box office collection day 1 total was $6.7 million on Friday, including $1.5 million from Thursday previews, according to Deadline and Variety.
What is the Ebenezer box office collection day 1 ranking?
Ebenezer finished Friday at No. 1 at the North American box office, Depp’s first No. 1 film since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018.
What is the projected opening weekend for Ebenezer?
Trade projections point to a domestic opening of $18 million to $20 million, with about $20 million more from 63 international markets, for a worldwide start near $40 million.
What is the budget of Ebenezer?
Variety reported a production budget of $38 million, with roughly $50 million spent on marketing. Depp took a reported $5 million salary tied to performance bonuses.
What are the reviews like for Ebenezer?
Critics are split, with around 50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 47, while audiences gave it a 90 percent Rotten Tomatoes audience score, an A-minus CinemaScore and 4.5 stars on PostTrak.
Who stars in Ebenezer?
Johnny Depp plays Ebenezer Scrooge, with Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley, Rupert Grint as Bob Cratchit, Daisy Ridley as Emily Cratchit, Andrea Riseborough, Tramell Tillman, Sam Claflin, Arthur Conti and Ellie Bamber in support. Ti West directs.
