The Odyssey has long been the clear leader of the pack in the below-the-line Oscar categories since Gold Derby began tracking the season. Now, however, there appears to be a lone wolf pulling ahead of the Christopher Nolan epic: Robert Eggers‘ Werwulf has surged into the No. 1 slot on the Best Makeup and Hairstyling leaderboard.
Werwulf has a 96% chance of being nominated, a tick above The Odyssey at 94%. Rounding out the Top 5 are Digger, Dune: Part Three, and Clayface.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Set in the remote 14th-century English countryside, Werwulf follows a character identified only as “Man” (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who is turned into a werewolf by an ominous elder. In the film’s present, he and his family live in a community plagued by an unseen monster. The ensemble includes Lily-Rose Depp as his wife and Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson as the huntners on his trail.
Aside from makeup and hairstyling, Werwulf is projected for nominations in Best Production Design (behind The Odyssey, Dune: Part Three, La Bola Negra, and Project Hail Mary) and Best Costume Design (trailing The Odyssey, La Bola Negra, Dune: Part Three, and Sense and Sensibility).
The Gold Derby odds are derived from the combined forecasts of three unique groups: experts we’ve polled from major media outlets, editors who cover awards year-round for this website, and the top 24 users who had the best accuracy scores last year.
Werwulf‘s climb to the top of the Best Makeup and Hairstyling chart is not without precedent; the Academy Awards have a history of honoring lycanthrope-themed films. John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London earned legendary makeup artist Rick Baker the first competitive Oscar for Best Makeup in 1982, while the team behind Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, featuring Gary Oldman in a wolf form, won the category in 1993, and Baker and Dave Elsey were victorious in 2011 for The Wolfman.
In September, Eggers hosted a preview party to tout the film’s elaborate set and costume designs.
“Building this world from the ground up: none of these structures exist anymore. Even the churches from the period have been modified over the years, so we have to build everything,” the filmmaker said. “But it’s all in the purpose of making the most visceral, transportive experience for the audience.”
As for the costumes, he explained: “You’re wearing uncomfortable, weird costumes, with weird medieval underwear and shoes you can’t run in the mud with. … It’s those kinds of details that maybe do go noticed, mixed with all the other details that don’t, that are subconscious, that bring the world to life.”
Werwulf will be released on Dec. 25.
