Est vs Actual domestic box office revenue: $224 – 274MM vs $274MM
98% of the events are borrowed from 3 mythological tales
Directed & co-written by Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity besides being a visual spectacle is a refreshingly unique story. The story interweaves the human quests of tranquillity and preservation. Mythosis, has harnessed the mythological tales of Odysseus & Noah to extract the movie’s plot structure.
1. Mythological tales reveal the invisible plot structure of any story
1A. 98% of the events are borrowed from 3 mythological tales
Stone's quest is driven by the desire to be in a safe environment and mirrors the tale of Odysseus from Greek mythology. Odysseus and Stone navigate their way back through hostile environment.
Kowalski’s quest is driven by the desire to survive a threat and borrows events from the tale of Noah from Abrahamic mythology. Both Noah & Kowalski look for a safe passage to protect others from a calamity.
Mission Control‘s quest is driven by the desire to protect loved ones and borrows events from the tale of Demeter from Greek mythology. Both Demeter & Mission Control lose their loved ones due to their imprudence.
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 Gravity is a subset of plot structure #7,291 that interweaves the tales of Demeter, Noah & Odysseus.
2. Plot structure potential of Gravity: $224-274MM
2A. Plot structure evaluation
An analysis of Blockbuster, Hit & Flop plots has led to the discovery of Mythosis Code. The Code reveals the story principles shared by all Blockbusters. We use the Code to estimate a story’s potential.
All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Gravity uses 3 universal quests of Tranquillity, Preservation & Family
In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Stone mirrors the universal quest of Tranquillity. Kowalski mirrors the universal quest of Preservation. Mission Control mirrors the quest of Family.
Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Stone borrows 27% of events from the quest of Tranquillity. Kowalski borrows 27% from the quest of Preservation. Mission Control borrows 10% 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. Gravity has a perfect quest interweaving score of 1. An example of interweaving the quests of Kowalski, Stone & Mission Control:
2B. Estimating revenue potential from the plot structure
Gravity's plot structure reveals two major quests of Preservation & Tranquillity and a minor quest of Family. However, all the quests could have had more depth to enhance engagement.
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.
Gravity has a script potential score is 0.30 and the movie will appeal to 8.71 – 10.65% of the population. Our estimate of the movie’s revenues from its audience appeal is $224 – 274MM in the domestic market. The movie’s actual revenue was $274MM.
3. The ideal plot structure of Gravity
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: Stone mirrors the universal quest for Tranquillity
Stone’s desire for Tranquillity stems from the need to be in a safe environment. The tale of Odysseus from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Tranquillity.
Quest 2: Kowalski mirrors the universal quest for Preservation
Kowalski’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.
Tags:2013, Alfonso Cuarón, Esperanto Filmoj, Heyday Films, Jonás Cuarón, Long range prediction, Mythology, Noah, Odysseus, Plot Structure, Preservation, storytelling, Tranquillity, Warner Bros. Pictures
