Despicable Me 4
Could it be the best installment of the franchise?
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$218 – 291MM V $361MM
Mythosis universal quests used
4
Audience appeal
5.71 – 6.98%
Hidden potential
$570–630MM
Despicable Me 4 is an animated movie from Universal & Illumination. Written by Mike White & Ken Daurio the movie is about Gru hiding in a safe house with his family to avoid Maxime. The movie explores basic human desires of order, expedition, power & independence. Mythosis uses 4 mythological tales to extract the plot structure of the movie.
1. The invisible plot structure of Despicable Me 4
1A. The script of Despicable Me 4 borrows 92% of its events from 4 mythological tales
Gru’s quest is driven by the desire to maintain social stability and mirrors the tale of Ram from Hindu mythology. Evil forces retaliate against both Ram & Gru by abducting their loved ones.
Gru’s quest is also driven by the desire to find an elusive object/person and mirrors the tale of Jason from Greek mythology. Both Jason & Gru are forced to retrieve an object.
Maxime’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others and mirrors the tale of Ravan from Hindu mythology. Both Ravan & Maxime use their power to acquire unscrupulously.
Mega Minions’ quest is driven by the desire for self-reliance and mirrors the tale of David from Abrahamic mythology. Both David & Mega Minions forced to retire but called back.
Lucy, Jr. & Poppy have underdeveloped 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
# 424,472
Tales interweaved
Ram, Ravan, Jason & David
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 Despicable Me 4's plot structure: $218-291MM
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 Despicable Me 4
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Despicable Me 4 uses 4 universal quests of Order, Expedition, Power and Independence.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Gru mirrors the quest of Order as well as Expedition. Maxime mirrors the universal quest of Power whereas the Mega Minions mirror the universal quest of Independence.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Gru borrows 40% of events from the quest for Order & 19% of events from the quest of Expedition. Maxime borrows 33% from the universal quest of Power. Mega Minions borrow 24% from the universal quest of Independence.
- 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 Despicable Me 4 is 0.67 and is above par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Gru & Maxime:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Despicable Me 4
The plot structure reveals 2 powerful quests and a third average quest. An otherwise strong plot weakened by the inconsistent quest of Gru.
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
0.20
Audience appeal
5.71 – 6.98%
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 Despicable Me 4
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: Gru mirrors the universal quest for Order
Gru’s desire for Order stems from the need for organization & stability. The tale of Ram from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Order.
Quest 2: Gru also mirrors the universal quest for Expedition
Gru’s desire for Expedition stems from the need to find an elusive object/person. The tale of Jason from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Expedition.
Quest 3: Maxime mirrors the universal quest for Power
Maxime’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Ravan from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Power.
Quest 4: Mega Minions mirrors the universal quest for Independence
Mega Minions’ desire for Independence stems from the need for self-reliance and autonomy. The tale of David from Abrahamic mythology is the universal quest for Independence.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
Mythosis has identified 2 gaps that inhibit the script’s potential.
A. Gru’s quest is inconsistent since he is driven by two desires
B. Only two of the quests have sufficient depth.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
The ideal plot structure for Despicable Me 4 is # 14,614. It is a blockbuster plot structure that can generate revenues of $570 – 630MM in the domestic market. The potential of the script is unlocked by
- Dropping Gru’s quest of Expedition (since it has lower depth) & Focusing on the singular quest of Order.
- Enhancing the depth of quests for Gru, Maxime & Mega Minions by borrowing events from the missing arcs.
Explore Mythosis Plot structure # 14,614 t0 enhance revenues by ~2.5X!
Tags: Jason, David, Ravan, Ram, Expedition, Independence, Vengeance, Order, Chris Renaud, Mike White, Ken Daurio, Universal Pictures, Illumination, 2024