20 Upcoming Movies That Might Be Surprisingly Good

In 2026 it's tough to be even remotely enthused about yet another big-budget retelling of Charles Dickens' seminal A Christmas Carol, considering we've already had several good ones, and frankly none of them have lived up to the gold standard that is The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Eyebrows were certainly raised, then, when Johnny Depp was announced to star as Scrooge in Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, especially considering Depp's heavily diminished star profile in recent years and the fact that it will be competing with another, far more intriguing adaptation to be directed by Robert Eggers and starring Willem Dafoe.

But Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol is being directed by an insanely left-field choice - horror auteur Ti West (X, Pearl, MaXXXine), and considering how unimaginable it is for West to be helming this project, it's safe to assume he's going to do something incredibly weird with it.

This is backed up by the script being penned by Nathaniel Halpern, a TV writer best known for his work on surreal sci-fi series Legion and Tales from the Loop.

Plus, it seems unlikely that this new Scrooge movie would secure such a celebrated supporting cast - including Andrea Riseborough, Ian McKellen, Tramell Tillman, Rupert Grint, and Daisy Ridley - unless it had something bold and unique up its sleeve. Here's hoping.