Trap
Trap trips on twists
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$23–40MM V $42MM
Mythosis universal quests used
3
Audience appeal
0.64 – 0.78%
Hidden potential
$490–540MM
Trap, directed by Night Shyamalan is about a serial killer outsmarting his apprehenders with luck and chance rather than intelligence. The story explores basic human desires of power, sacrifice & idealism. Mythosis extracts the plot structure of the movie with 3 mythological tales to estimate and unlock its potential.
1. The invisible plot structure of Trap
1A. The script of Trap borrows 87% of its events from 3 mythological tales
Cooper’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others and mirrors the tale of Circe from Greek mythology. Both Circe & Cooper create a façade of godliness to dupe others.
Lady Raven’s quest is driven by the desire to sacrifice self for serving others and mirrors the tale of Hanuman from Hindu mythology. Both Hanuman & Lady Raven help in finding the abductor.
Rachel has an underdeveloped quest driven by the desire to uphold justice and mirrors a few events from the tale of Prometheus from Greek mythology. Both Prometheus & Rachel turn idealistic and rebel against their own.
Grant, Riley & Jaime have non-existent quests.
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
# 298
Tales interweaved
Circe & Hanuman
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 Trap's plot structure: $23-40MM
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 Trap
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Trap uses 2 universal quests of Power and Honour.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Lady Raven mirrors the universal quest of Honour. Cooper mirrors the universal quest of Power.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Lady Raven borrows 10% from the quest of Honour. Cooper borrows 24% from the universal quest of Power.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. The quest interweaving score of Trap is 0.33 and is below par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Cooper & Lady Raven:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Trap
Trap is predominantly a singular quest story and doesn’t adhere to any of the first principles of storytelling.
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
0.02
Audience appeal
0.64 – 0.78%
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 Trap
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: Cooper mirrors the universal quest for Power
Cooper’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Circe from Greek mythology is the universal fulfilled quest for Power.
Quest 2: Lady Raven mirrors the universal quest for Honour
Lady Raven’s desire for Honour stems from the need to sacrifice self for clan/order. The tale of Hanuman from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Honour.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
All blockbusters interweave at least 3 mythological tales. Each tale is mirrored by a single character. Every character borrows 35%+ events from their respective tale. And the quests are interwoven with each other. Lastly, unlike Circe, Cooper’s quest is a result of chance rather than effort.
A redraft of the script is necessitated by the fact that Trap doesn’t adhere to any of the first principles of storytelling.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
The universal quests of Order, Power & Honour unlocks the hidden potential of Trap. Mythosis Plot Structure #18,191 interweaves the tales of Circe, Ram & Hanuman. This plot structure can generate revenues of approximately $525MM in the domestic market.
Even though Grant doesn’t have a quest in the story, she has a clear objective of apprehending a serial killer. The universal quest of Order is driven by the desire to maintain stability. The tale of Ram from Hindu mythology represents the universal quest of Order.
- This quest has been mirrored by Clarice in Silence of the Lambs.
Explore Mythosis Plot structure # 18,191 that enhances current revenues by ~20X!
Tags: Hanuman, Circe, Honour, Power, M. Night Shyamalan, Blinding Edge Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2024