The Hero's Journey can't recreate another Star Wars or any other Blockbuster

Star Wars - A New Hope written and directed by George Lucas is one of the most influential films of American cinematic history. The film provides invaluable lessons for storytellers that has been lost due to the reductionist theories such as The Hero's Journey.

Mythosis has extracted the plot structure to demonstrate the power of embracing mythology in storytelling. The plot structure of Star Wars - A New Hope is the ONLY film to have interwoven 7 mythological tales into a cohesive story.

1. 7 Mythological tales reveal the invisible Plot Structure of Star Wars – A New Hope

Every character in Star Wars – A New Hope pursues a fundamental human desire, human desires that echo across time and cultures. Their quests in pursuit of their desires find their universal counterparts in mythological tales.

Darth Vader mirrors the quest for Vengeance. Darth Vader’s desire for Vengeance stems from the need to confront offenders. The tale of Duryodhan from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Vengeance.

Luke mirrors the quest for Honour. Luke’s desire for Honour stems from the need to serve a clan or order. The tale of Hanuman from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Honour.

Obi-Wan mirrors the quest for Preservation. Obi-Wan’s desire for Preservation stems from the need to survive a threat. The tale of Noah from Abrahamic mythology is the universal quest for Preservation.

Every human desire has two quests - a fulfilled one and also an unfulfilled one. The film uses both quests for the desire of Preservation. Obi-Wan mirrors part of the fulfilled quest whereas Tarkin mirrors the unfulfilled quest. Tarkin mirrors the quest for Preservation. Tarkin’s desire for Preservation stems from the need to survive a threat. The tale of Kans from Hindu mythology is the universal unfulfilled quest for Preservation.

R2D2 mirrors the quest for Expedition. R2D2’s desire for Expedition stems from the need to find an elusive person or object. The tale of Jason from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Expedition.

Han Solo mirrors the quest for Accumulation. Han Solo’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.

Princess Leia’s quest is miniscule, she mirrors the quest for Order. Leia’s desire for Order stems from the need to maintain stability. The tale of Ram from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Order.

2. Compared to Flops, Blockbusters borrow differently from mythological tales

An analysis of Blockbuster, Hit & Flop plot structures across decades and genres has uncovered an ingenuous method of incorporating mythological tales into storytelling. The Mythosis Code for creating blockbuster plot structures is the complete opposite of frameworks that align with the reductionist theory such as The Hero's Journey. Conventional plot structures serve the interests of the studios and stifle the creativity of storytellers. The Mythosis Code has over a billion possibilities of story plots since it is based on the first principles of storytelling.

Every blockbuster plot structure borrows events from at least three mythological tales. 98% of the events in Star Wars – A New Hope is borrowed from seven mythological tales.
Blockbuster characters are consistent and complex hence each character in the story mirrors events from only a single mythological tale, and the degree of mirroring is as deep as 35%. From their respective quests Luke, Han Solo and Obi-Wan borrow 58%, 40% & 36%. Darth Vader, R2D2 & Tarkin each borrow 28%. Princess Leia borrows only 6%.
Blockbusters create a cohesive plot structure by intricately weaving multiple tales. Characters are woven with each other through their quests and not merely by relationships. Quests become interconnected when events from two mythological tales occur simultaneously within the story. Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.50. The film’s quest interweaving score of 0.67 is above par. Here is an example of interweaving the quests of Luke & Darth Vader:

3. The script of Star Wars – A New Hope appeals to 38.40 – 42.24% of the population

Plot structures made in accordance with the Mythosis Code engages audiences at multiple levels.

Why does every blockbuster plot borrow events from at least 3 mythological tales? In our real lives, each one of us identifies with at least one quest to fulfil a basic human desire. When more quests are woven into a story, it starts resonating with a wider audience.
Why is it important for each mythological tale to be mirrored by a single character? Characters pursuing more than one quest appear confusing due to their divergent desires whereas characters pursuing one quest are consistent.
Why should characters deeply mirror a mythological tale? Firstly, characters become layered & complex when they borrow more events from a quest. Secondly, the pace of the plot structure begins to drag or become flat when characters borrow less than the threshold of 35%.

We have created an algorithm by assigning weights to the principles of The Mythosis Code. The algorithm calculates the potency of a story’s plot structure and estimates its corresponding audience appeal. Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences.

Star Wars – A New Hope’s plot structure has a score of 1.20. It will appeal to 38.40% - 42.24% of the population. Our estimate of the film’s revenues from its audience appeal is $196 – 210MM in the domestic market. The film grossed $236MM in the domestic market.

4. 98% events in Star Wars - A New Hope are borrowed from 7 mythological tales

We have identified 32 universal quests that represent every human desire. These quests are the superset of thousands of stories across cultures that reflect our collective subconscious. Each quest has a structured sequence of events divided into 5 major arcs. We map a character’s quest to the relevant mythological tale (universal quest) after matching their desires.

Quest 1: Darth Vader mirrors Duryodhan’s quest for Vengeance

Quest 2: Luke mirrors Hanuman’s quest for Honour

Quest 3: Obi-Wan mirrors Noah’s quest for Preservation

Quest 4: R2D2 mirrors Jason’s quest for Expedition

Quest 5: Han Solo mirrors Scrooge’s quest for Accumulation

Quest 6: Tarkin mirrors Kans’ quest for Preservation

Quest 7: Leia mirrors Ram’s quest for Order

Princess Leia's desire for Order stems from the need to maintain stability in the Galactic Empire. Ram' success was due to Vibhishan sharing information about Ravan's vulnerabilities. Similarly, the Rebel Alliance discovered the weakness of the Death Star from its schematic.

Tags: 1977, 20th Century Fox, Accumulation, Box office, Character development, Duryodhan, Expedition, George Lucas, Hanuman, Honour, Jason, Kans, Lucasfilm Ltd., Movie Review, Mythology, Noah, Preservation, Script, Story plot, Valmiki, Vengeance