No Hard Feelings
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$50 – 60MM V $50MM
Mythosis universal quests used
2
Audience appeal
1.39 – 1.71%
Script Score
0.05
No Hard Feelings is a 2023 movie directed by Gene Stupnitsky. The story is about a woman who is hired by a wealthy couple to romance their sexually inexperienced son.
1. The invisible plot structure of No Hard Feelings
1A. The script of No Hard Feelings borrows 80% of its events from 2 mythological tales
Maddie’s quest is driven by selfishness. The quest borrows events from the tale of Valmiki in Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki & Maddie are self-centred but eventually have a change of heart and sacrifice their interest.
Percy’s quest is driven by the desire for companionship. The quest borrows events from the tale of Psyche in Greek mythology. Both Psyche and Percy have a falling out with their loved ones due to trust issues.
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
# 149
Tales interweaved
Valmiki & Psyche
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 No Hard Feelings' plot structure: $50-60MM
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 No Hard Feelings
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. No Hard Feelings uses 2 universal quests of Accumulation & Social Contact.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Maddie mirrors the universal quest of Accumulation whereas Percy mirrors the quest of Social contact. Maddie also mirrors a few events from Percy's quest.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Maddie borrows 44% events from the quest for Accumulation & Percy borrows 40% events from the quest for Social Contact.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. No Hard Feelings’ quest interweaving score of 0.33 is below par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Maddie & Percy:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of No Hard Feelings
The plot structure has two well-developed quests but is weakened by Maddie’s inconsistent quest.
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
0.05
Audience appeal
1.39 - 1.71%
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 No Hard Feelings
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: Maddie mirrors the universal quest for Accumulation
Maddie’s desire for Accumulation stems from the need to collect and 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: Percy mirrors the universal quest for Social Contact
Percy’s desire for Social Contact stems from the need for companionship. The tale of Psyche from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Social Contact.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
The erroneous attribution of events from one quest to the other.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
The plot of No Hard Feelings is a sub set of Mythosis Plot Structure # 149. It interweaves the tales of Valmiki & Psyche.
Unlock the potential with Mythosis Plot Structure # 149
Tags: Psyche, Valmiki, Social Contact, Gene Stupnitsky, Columbia, Sony, 2023