Costume Sketches Offer a Look Inside The Odyssey, Michael and Wicker

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has a wardrobe to match its scale. Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick created more than 5,300 designs for the film, Variety reported on Friday 6 November 2026, when it shared exclusive concept sketches from several upcoming films.

For Anne Hathaway's Penelope, Mirojnick planned a clear arc. Variety reports that the costumes begin as simple, vulnerable dresses and end in a magnificent blue, armour-like gown that Penelope wears as she challenges her suitors.

Michael, Antoine Fuqua's biopic of Michael Jackson, has Jaafar Jackson in the title role. Costume designer Marci Rodgers delivered more than 3,000 looks for the film. She recreated the outfit Jackson wore for his 1983 Motown 25 performance of "Billie Jean," down to the Florsheim Como Imperial loafer he wore that night. The jacket from that performance belonged to his mother, Katherine.

Then there is Wicker, written and directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson. Olivia Colman plays a spinster fisherwoman, Peter Dinklage is a basket weaver, and Alexander Skarsgård plays a husband made of wicker. Variety reports that 95% of Skarsgård's costume was built from 50 3D-printed pieces, painted to look like wicker and stitched onto a spandex suit.

Variety had already put some of these titles on its radar. In August it named The Odyssey, Michael, Project Hail Mary and Toy Story 5 among seven films that could define the 2027 Oscar season. Its later list of predictions also includes Robert Eggers's film Werwulf.

Streaming news came in October. Netflix released a new set of images for The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, David Fincher's film starring Brad Pitt, Deadline reported on 21 October.

Why does a costume get a sketch at all? Designers work months ahead of the camera. A drawing lets the director, the actors and the costume team agree on a look before anyone cuts a single seam. Those early choices carry through to the final screen, which is why a single shoe or jacket can end up with a story of its own.

For fans, the sketches offer a preview of how the films were put together. Each costume started as a drawing on a desk, then passed through fitting rooms, makers and crews before anyone saw it on screen.