Fight Club
A fantastic re-interpretation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas character
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$28-34 V $37MM
Mythosis universal quests used
2
Audience appeal
1.99 – 2.43%
Script Score
0.07
Fight Club is a 1999 film directed by David Fincher, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The movie explores the basic human desires of Accumulation and Power. The story has achieved cult status because deep down it reflects our collective unconscious. Mythosis, harnesses mythological tales to extract the unique plot structure of Fight Club. The plot structure uncovers what makes the story engaging and also exposes the gaps.
1. The invisible plot structure of Fight Club
1A. The script of Fight Club borrows 92% of its events from 2 mythological tales
Narrator’ quest is driven by the desire to collect & own and mirrors the tale of Valmiki from Hindu mythology. Valmiki’s journey has a robust expression in Dicken’s character of Scrooge. Both Scrooge & Narrator sacrifice everything, even their loved ones before realizing their mistake.
Tyler’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others and mirrors the tale of Ravan from Hindu mythology. Both Ravan and Tyler take whatever they want without any concern for the consequences.
Marla has an underdeveloped quest driven by the desire for companionship.
NOTE: Detailed mirroring of each character’s primary quest to their respective mythological tales is in section “3A. Quests of characters and their mythological counterparts”
Mythosis plot structure
#144
Tales interweaved
Valmiki & Ravan
I. How does interweaving mythological tales lead to infinite story plots?
II. Can the pursuit of a Desire have more than one quest?
2. The potential of Fight Club’s plot structure: $28 – 34MM
The interweaving of 32 mythological tales can generate a billion unique stories. By using these 32 tales, we can extract the plot structure of any story across various genres. Our study of blockbuster, hit, and flop plot structures led to the discovery of the Mythosis Code, a set of principles for creating compelling stories. The plot structure of a story is analyzed to see how well it adheres to these storytelling principles.
2A. Plot structure evaluation of Fight Club
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Fight Club uses 2 universal quests of Accumulation and Power.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Tyler mirrors the universal quests of Power whereas Narrator mirrors the universal quest of Accumulation.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Tyler borrows 64% of events from the quest of Power. Narrator borrows 56% from the quest of Accumulation.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Fight Club fails to interweave the two quests.
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Fight Club
Fight Club’s plot structure reveals 2 highly engaging character journeys. Marla has an underdeveloped quest despite her screen time. It also shows that the quests of narrator & his alter-ego aren’t interwoven. As a result, the plot structure is disjointed.
The Script Score measures a plot structure’s adherence to the four principles of Mythosis Code. We use the Script Score to estimate a movie’s audience appeal & revenues. Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences.
Script Score
0.07
Audience appeal
1.99% – 2.43%
I. How is Mythosis Code used to estimate revenues?
II. Aren’t box-office revenues influenced by several factors beyond just the story plot?
3. The ideal plot structure of Fight Club
We have identified 32 mythological tales, the superset of all tales across cultures. The quests of these tales have also recurred over time periods. They represent human behaviours that are deeply embedded in our shared memories. Each tale is the richest expression of the pursuit of a human desire. The tales have a unique pattern of events spread over 5 major arcs.
Mapping a character’s quest to the relevant mythological tale reveals the gaps in their quest, if any. Plugging these gaps with the missing events deepens the character quest. The missing events also provide an opportunity for interweaving the various quests. These events strengthen the story and unlock its hidden potential.
3A.Quest of characters and their mythological counterparts
Quest 1: Narrator mirrors the universal quest for Accumulation
Narrator’s desire for Accumulation stems from the need to collect & own. The tale of Valmiki from Hindu mythology has a robust expression in Dicken’s character of Scrooge which is the universal quest for Accumulation.
Quest 2: Tyler mirrors the universal quest for Power
Tyler’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Ravan from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Power.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
The plot structure of Fight Club fails to create a meaningful quest for Marla. Her quest would have made the story even more cohesive.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
Contact: anandshiv@usemythosis.com
Contact us for Fight Club’s plot structure #144
Tags: Ravan, Valmiki, Accumulation, Power, David Fincher, Jim Uhls, Chuck Palahniuk, 20th Century Fox, 1999