Box Office: Johnny Depp's 'Ebenezer' Leads Friday With $6.7 Million as 'How to Rob a Bank' Stumbles

"Ebenezer," a PG-13 adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" starring Johnny Depp as Scrooge, opened at the top of the North American box office on Friday, collecting $6.7 million on its first day in theaters.

The Paramount release is projected to earn $18 million to $20 million from 3,535 theaters over its opening weekend, with another $20 million expected from overseas markets for a global debut of roughly $38 million to $40 million. That would represent a solid start given the film's modest $38 million production budget. Audiences gave the movie an "A-" grade in CinemaScore exit polls.

Directed by Ti West, best known for the "X" horror trilogy, the film revisits the oft-told story of a curmudgeonly businessman who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.

The release marks Depp's first major movie in eight years, going back to 2018's "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald." Warner Bros. fired him from the "Harry Potter" spinoff series in 2020 after he lost a libel case against the British tabloid The Sun, which had called the actor a "wife beater." Depp later won a defamation trial in the United States against his ex-wife Amber Heard, who accused him of domestic abuse. As Hollywood kept its distance, he appeared in underseen independent projects such as the 2020 drama "Minamata" and the 2023 period piece "Jeanne du Barry," and he directed the 2024 biopic "Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness."

Friday's other newcomers saw mixed results. Sony's action thriller "Ghost Soldier," starring Jim Caviezel as a former American Special Forces soldier, grossed $1.5 million from 2,558 locations. It is expected to generate $4.9 million over the traditional weekend and $8 million across its first five days of release, against an $18 million production cost.

Amazon MGM's "How to Rob a Bank" is faring considerably worse, taking in $2.2 million from 2,810 theaters on Friday and pacing toward an opening of just $4.75 million. That is an unpromising result for a movie the studio produced for more than $40 million, especially since theater owners keep about half of ticket sales.

Directed by David Leitch, the R-rated caper stars Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz and Pete Davidson and follows a crew of social media-savvy bank robbers who broadcast their daring heists, unaware their viral fame has caught the attention of the feds. The film landed a "B-" grade on CinemaScore exit polls and a tepid 33% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Although "How to Rob a Bank" placed third on Friday, it is bracing for a No. 7 finish on the weekend box office chart behind several holdovers, including Warner Bros. Animation's "The Cat in the Hat" and Gkids' "Godzilla Minus Zero." "The Cat in the Hat" ranked second on Friday with $2.2 million and looks to generate $10 million by Sunday, a 50% decline from its debut. Those ticket sales would bring its domestic total to $36.7 million, a weak tally against a $92 million budget.

"Godzilla Minus Zero" was not far behind with $2.1 million on Friday and should collect $7.5 million in its second weekend, a harsh 75% drop from its opening. Still, the kaiju sequel has been a hit in North America, and those returns will push its Stateside haul to $48.1 million.