Johnny Depp’s Scrooge is heading for a US$20 million opening, and critics cannot decide whether it is a comeback or a lump of coal

Johnny Depp’s return as a studio leading man is making money, even if it is not winning everyone over.

Ebenezer opened in North American cinemas on Friday, US time, and by Friday afternoon estimates it had taken about US$7.1 million including Thursday previews of about US$1.5 million. That puts Paramount’s Christmas film on course for an opening of more than US$20 million, enough to lead the weekend ahead of last weekend’s record-breaker, Godzilla Minus Zero, and Warner Bros’ The Cat in the Hat, both in their second weekends.

The film is expected to add about US$20 million from international markets over the same days.

Is this a Depp comeback?

It is the closest he has come to one. Ebenezer is his first major studio lead in years, after a long stretch dominated by his court fights and a move into smaller European productions. A US$20 million start for a dark, adult retelling of a Victorian ghost story, in November, would count as a solid result for a film that cost US$38 million to make.

The bigger question is how it holds. Paramount has spent a reported US$50 million on marketing, and Christmas films live or die on word of mouth in the weeks before December, when families pick one or two trips to the cinema.

What are critics saying?

They cannot agree. The first reactions, from screenings before release, were largely warm about Depp’s performance. Once the full reviews arrived, the picture was split, with some critics praising West’s horror-tinged approach and others unmoved. One prominent US critic called Depp “easily the worst Scrooge” they had seen.

Who else is in it?

West, known for the horror films X, Pearl and MaXXXine, directs from a script by Nathaniel Halpern. Depp leads an ensemble that includes Ian McKellen, Daisy Ridley, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Rupert Grint and Tramell Tillman.

Why does Hollywood care about this weekend?

Because November is where studios test whether audiences will turn up for anything other than franchises before the Christmas rush. Godzilla Minus Zero proved last weekend that a subtitled monster film could draw record crowds in the US. Ebenezer is testing something different: whether a star with a divisive public image can still open a film.