Civil War’s plot potential is $61 – 88MM (actual $69MM)
Current plot structure will appeal to 1.42 – 1.74% of the population
Civil War’s hidden potential unlocked with 3 mythological tales
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. However, the film has sparked divisive opinions. At Mythosis we extract and evaluate Civil War’s plot structure – the foundation of great storytelling.
Mythological tales reveal the invisible Plot Structure of Civil War
Stories are an interweaving of quests, each representing a fundamental human desire. These desires echo across time and cultures, finding their universal counterparts in mythological tales.
93% of the events in the story is borrowed from three mythological tales. There are 3 prominent characters in the movie.
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. Joel 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.
Detailed mirroring of each character to their respective mythological tales is in section “Unlocking the Ideal Plot Structure”
Blockbusters differ from Flops in the way they borrow from mythological tales
Blockbuster stories consistently defy the norms of conventional plot structures. The analysis of Blockbuster, Hit & Flop plot structures across decades and genres has uncovered an optimal method for incorporating mythological tales into storytelling. The Mythosis Code for creating blockbuster plot structures has the following principles -
Every blockbuster plot structure borrows events from at least three mythological tales.
Blockbuster characters are consistent and complex. Each character in the story reflects events from a single mythological tale, and the degree of mirroring is approximately 35%.
Blockbusters create a cohesive plot structure by intricately weaving the 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.
Mythosis Code evaluation of Civil War’s Plot structure
Civil War’s plot structure borrows from two mythological tales.
Each character uniquely mirrors a single tale which makes them consistent.
Joel, Lee & Jessie borrow below the threshold of 35%. 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 0.50. Lee’s quest is interwoven with the quests of Joel & Jessie. The quests of Joel & Jessie aren’t interwoven. Civil War’s quest interweaving score of 0.67 is above par. Here is an example of interweaving the quests of Lee & Jessie:
Estimated potential of Civil War’s Plot Structure
Each one of us is driven by at least one desire, which is why specific mythological tales resonate with us. When a story interweaves more tales, it broadens the story’s appeal to a wider audience. However, to realize the power of multiple quests, the quests must have sufficient depth and they should be interwoven.
Civil War's plot structure suffers from the shallow quests of every character. In the absence of compelling quests, audiences are bound to reject the unique world of a war-torn Divided States of America.
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.
Civil War’s plot structure has a score of 0.05. Civil War will appeal to 1.42 – 1.74% of the population. Our estimate of the movie’s revenues from its audience appeal is $61 – 88MM in the domestic market.
Unlocking the Ideal Plot Structure of Civil War
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) which reveals the gaps in their quest, if any. The ideal Plot Structure is constructed by plugging these gaps with the missing events from the tale. These events strengthen each character’s journey and weaving of quests without altering the story.
Extraction of each character quest
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.
Ideal Plot structure reconstruction
A plot structure made by interweaving the quests of Expedition, Family & Curiosity is quite unique and compelling. However, Civil War fails to leverage the power of interweaving 3 mythological tales because the quests of Joel & Jessie have multiple gaps.
Recreating a plot structure with missing events from the three quests changes the story completely, for the better!
Discover how James Cameron leveraged a unique world in the plot structure of Titanic https://usemythosis.com/explore/titanic
Tags:2024, A24, Alex Garland, Character Arcs, Curiosity, Demeter, Expedition, Family, Innana, Jason, Mythology, Screenwriting, Story plot, storytelling
