Tramell Tillman and Ian McKellen Join Ti West's EBENEZER: A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Broadway alums Tramell Tillman and Ian McKellen have joined the cast of Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, a new film adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic story from director Ti West. According to Deadline, Tillman is rumored to play the Ghost of Christmas Present, with McKellen's role currently unknown. Paramount will release the movie in theaters on November 13, 2026. 

The pair will star in the movie alongside Johnny Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge and Andrea Riseborough in an unknown role. This is the latest in a long line of adaptations over the years, which span film, television, and the stage. Another film version, directed by Robert Eggers and starring Willem Dafoe, is also in the works. 

Nathaniel Halpern has adapted the screenplay from Dickens' novella, which is "a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, following one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present and future and fight for a second chance.”

Notable film adaptations include 1951's Scrooge starring Alastair Sim, the 1984 version with George C. Scott, and the 1999 TV movie with Patrick Stewart, who also performed a one-man production of the book on Broadway. The material has also been musicalized, most prominently by Alan Menken in a version that ran yearly at Madison Square Garden for nearly 10 years.

The Jack Thorne adaptation is playing off-Broadway this season at PAC NYC with a cast led by Michael Cerveris as Scrooge. Performances begin on Sunday, November 23, 2025 with an opening set for Thursday, December 4, 2025. The limited run ends Sunday, January 4, 2026. Check out footage from rehearsals here.

Tramell Tillman appeared on Broadway in The Great Society and in off-Broadway's Shit. Meet. Fan. He has garnered critical acclaim for his performance as Seth Milchick in Severance, winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Season 2 of the series. 

Sir Ian McKellen is an acclaimed stage and screen actor, whose stage credits include Amadeus, Macbeth, Othello, Waiting for Godot, and Player Kings. Onscreen, he is known for X-Men, Gods and Monsters, and his turn as the wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings. He will next be seen in the mixed reality play An Ark in 2026 at The Shed.

Tramell Tillman Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas

Ian McKellen Photo Credit: Frederic Aranda