Gladiator’s magic goes beyond the quest of Vengeance
Est vs Actual domestic box office revenue: $143 – 175MM vs $188MM
98% of the events are borrowed from 4 mythological tales
Gladiator directed by Ridley Scott gladiator 2000 follows the story of a Roman General’s relegation to slavery, rise through the ranks of the gladiators and his revenge. The story explores the basic human desires of Preservation, Vengeance, Accumulation and Family. Mythosis, harnesses mythological tales to extract the unique plot structure of Gladiator. The plot structure uncovers what makes the story engaging and also exposes the gaps.
1. Mythological tales reveal the invisible plot structure of Gladiator
1A. 98% of the events are borrowed from 4 mythological tales
Maximus' quest is driven by the desire to punish offenders and mirrors the tale of Dron from Hindu mythology. Both Dron and Maximus are betrayed and humiliated by their friend and seek to avenge themselves.
Commodus’ quest is driven by the desire to survive a threat and mirrors the tale of Kans from Hindu mythology. Both Kans & Commodus fail to kill their nemesis and pay the price.
Proxima’s quest is driven by the desire to own and mirrors the tale of Valmiki from Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki & Proxima are self-centred but have a change of heart and sacrifice their interest.
Lucilla’s quest is driven by the desire to protect loved ones and mirrors the tale of Demeter from Greek mythology. She is helped by Maximus and the Senate to protect Lucius from Commodus. This is similar to Zeus helping Demeter free Persephone from Hades.
Juba & Hagen have underdeveloped quests of Honour.
The quests of Aurelius, Gracchus & Quintus are subsumed in the quests of Maximus & Commodus.
Detailed mirroring of each character’s primary quest to their respective mythological tales is in section “3A. Quests of characters and their mythological counterparts”
1B. 32 mythological tales are the source of all stories, even the untold ones
Human beings are driven by 16 fundamental desires. Every desire, whether encountering fulfilment or unfulfillment, gives rise to two distinct quests. Thus, a spectrum of 32 unique quests mirrors every human desire.
We have discovered mythological tales from across civilizations that uniquely portray each one of these 32 human quests. While each mythological tale stands as a distinct quest, the true magic unfolds when these tales are combined. This synergy is evident in the epics of Odyssey and Ramayan, where various universal quests seamlessly intertwine.
Combining any five tales from the 32, generates a staggering 24 million unique story plots. Take it a step further, by combining six tales the possibilities explode to an astounding 600 million!
The plot of Gladiator is a subset of plot structure #859,987 that interweaves the tales of Dron, Kans, Valmiki and Demeter.
2. Plot structure potential of Gladiator: $143-175MM
2A. Plot structure evaluation
An analysis of Blockbuster, Hit & Flop plots has led to the discovery of Mythosis Code. The Code has a 91% accuracy in predicting the box office revenues of movies. It reveals 4 principles for creating compelling stories. We use the Code to estimate a story’s potential.
All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Gladiator uses 4 universal quests of Vengeance, Preservation, Accumulation and Family.
In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Maximus mirrors the universal quests of Vengeance. Commodus mirrors the universal quest of Preservation. Proxima mirrors the universal quests of Accumulation whereas Lucilla mirrors the universal quests of Family.
Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Maximus borrows 40% of the events from the quest of Vengeance. Commodus borrows 34% from the quest of Preservation. Proxima borrows 19% of events from the quest of Accumulation whereas Lucilla borrows 10% of events from the quest of Family.
Blockbusters interweave different quests to create a tight plot structure. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. The quest interweaving score of Gladiator is 0.50 and is at par. An example of interweaving the quests of Maximus & Commodus:
2B. Estimating revenue potential from the plot structure
Gladiator's plot structure has two very powerful character quests of Maximus & Commodus. However, it doesn’t have a third character with sufficient depth.
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.
Gladiator has a script potential score is 0.33 and the movie will appeal to 9.38% - 11.46% of the population. Our estimate of the movie’s revenues from its audience appeal is $143 – 175MM in the domestic market. The movie’s actual revenue was $188MM.
3. The ideal plot structure of Gladiator
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 both the journey of characters as well as the weaving of quests without altering the story.
3A. Quest of characters and their mythological counterparts
Quest 1: Maximus mirrors the universal quest for Vengeance
Maximus’ desire for Vengeance stems from the need to punish offenders. The tale of Dron from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Vengeance.
Quest 2: Commodus mirrors the universal quest for Preservation
Commodus’ desire stems from the need to survive a threat. The tale of Kans from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Preservation.
Quest 3: Proxima mirrors the universal quest for Accumulation
Proxima’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.
Tags:2000, Accumulation, David Franzoni, Demeter, DreamWorks Pictures, Dron, Family, John Logan, Kans, Long range prediction, Mythology, Plot Structure, Preservation, Ridley Scott, storytelling, Universal Pictures, Valmiki, Vengeance, William Nicholson
