Civil War
A journey across divided states of America
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$61 – 88MM V $69MM
Mythosis universal quests used
3
Audience appeal
1.42 – 1.74%
Hidden potential
$630 – 710MM
The film is about a team of journalists travelling across US during a civil war to interview the President. Civil War has successfully created an intriguing world that is thought-provoking and has sparked divisive opinions.
1. The invisible plot structure of Civil War
1A. The script of Civil War borrows 93% of its events from 3 mythological tales
Joel’s quest mirrors the tale of Jason from Greek mythology, where both are driven by the desire to find an elusive person/object. Jason travels to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece from King Aetees. Lee travels across war zones to interview the President. Sammy doesn’t have a unique quest, he’s one of the Argonauts who accompany Jason.
Lee’s quest mirrors the tale of Demeter from Greek mythology, where both are driven by the desire to nurture and protect. Demeter recovers Persephone after she’s abducted by Hades. Lee recovers Jessie from the gunman.
Jessie’s quest mirrors the tale of Innana from Sumerian mythology, where both are driven by the desire to explore & discover. Innana is saved after she gets trapped in the Underworld. Jessie is saved by Lee, Joel & Sammy after being abducted by the gunman.
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
# 16,030
Tales interweaved
Jason, Innana & Demeter
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 Civil War's plot structure: $61-88MM
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 Civil War
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. The script primarily uses the 2 universal quests of Expedition & Family. The quest of Curiosity is used sparingly.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Joel mirrors the quest of Expedition. Lee mirrors the universal quest of Family whereas Jessie mirrors the quest of Curiosity.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Lee borrows 24% of the events from Demeter’s quest. Joel borrows 14% of the events from Jason’s quest. Jessie borrows 8% of the events from Innana’s quest.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Civil War’s quest interweaving score of 0.67 is above par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Lee & Jessie:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Civil War
Civil War’s plot structure suffers from the shallow quests of every character.
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
1.42 – 1.74%
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 Civil War
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: Joel mirrors the universal quest for Expedition
Joel’s desire for Expedition stems from the need to find an elusive person/object. The tale of Jason from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Expedition.
Quest 2: Lee mirrors the universal quest for Family
Lee’s desire for Family stems from the need to nurture & protect. The tale of Demeter from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Family.
Quest 3: Jessie mirrors the universal quest for Curiosity
Jessie’s desire for Curiosity stems from the need to explore & discover. The tale of Innana from Sumerian mythology is the universal quest for Curiosity.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
Civil War fails to leverage the power of interweaving 3 mythological tales because of gaps in the quests of Lee, Joel & Jessie.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
Mythosis plot structure # 16,030 helps in unlocking the potential of the script. It reveals the missing events for each character quest.
Recreating a plot structure with missing events from the three quests changes the story completely, though for the better!
It has the potential to generate revenues of $630 – 710MM in the domestic market.
Explore Mythosis Plot structure # 16,030 that enhances current revenues by ~11X!
Tags: Jason, Expedition, Innana, Curiosity, Demeter, Family, 2024, Alex Garland, A24