Script potential at Domestic box office: $63 – 100MM
The Ideal Plot structure enhances revenues by 9X!
Nosferatu, directed by Robert Eggers, is a remake of the 1922 silent movie. The story revolves around an unfortunate husband & wife and a professor of occult battling against an obsessed demonic power. The movie explores human desires of tranquillity, order, power and status. The plot structure exposes the disjointed storyline and shallow character quests.
1.The invisible plot structure of Nosferatu
1A. The script of Nosferatu borrows 93% of its events from 4 mythological tales
Ellen’s quest is driven by the desire to ensure order. The quest borrows events from the tale of Bhishm in Hindu mythology. Both Bhishm and Ellen unintentionally unleash chaos that can only be resolved through their sacrifice.
Orlok’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others. The quest borrows events from the tale of Ravan in Hindu mythology. Both Ravan and Orlok take whatever they want without any concern for the consequences.
Von Franz has an underdeveloped quest of Status. Much like Joseph deciphering the Pharaoh’s dream and rescuing Egypt from famine, Von Franz unravels the mystery of Ellen's demonic affliction and discovers a way to defeat it.
Thomas has an underdeveloped quest of Tranquillity. Odysseus escapes multiple captivities to reach Ithaca and saves Penelope from suitors. Thomas escapes from Orlok’s castle but fails to save Ellen.
Friedrich & Anna, friends of Thomas and Ellen have no quest. Sievers and Knock also don’t have any quest. They are characters in the quests of Joseph & Ravan.
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. Nosferatu’s unique plot structure extracted from our reservoir of infinite stories
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 Nosferatu is a subset of Mythosis plot structure #451,802 that interweaves the tales of Ravan, Bhishm, Joseph & Odysseus.
2. The potential of Nosferatu’s plot structure: $63 – 100MM
2A. Nosferatu’s plot structure evaluation
The interweaving of 32 mythological tales creates a billion stories. We use these 32 tales to extract the plot structure of any story across genres. The study of plot structures across Blockbuster, Hit & Flop movies led to the discovery of storytelling principles. We developed Mythosis Code to see how well a story follows these principles.
All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests.Nosferatu uses 2 universal quests of Order & Power. The quests of Status & Tranquillity are sparingly used.
In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Ellen mirrors the universal quest of Order. Orlok mirrors the universal quest of Power.
Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Ellen borrows 24% from the quest of Order. Orlok borrows 21% from the quest of Power. Von Franz & Thomas borrow less than 10% from their respective quests.
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. Nosferatu’s quest interweaving score of 0.40 is below par. An example of interweaving the quests of Ellen & Orlok:
2B. Estimating Nosferatu’s revenue potential from its plot structure
Even though the script of Nosferatu uses 4 universal quests, 2 quests are negligible and the other 2 quests are shallow. Important causal events from each of the quests is left out which makes the plot structure disjointed.
We have created an algorithm by assigning weights to the principles of The Mythosis Code. This algorithm has an accuracy of 91% in predicting the lifetime revenue of a movie from its script. The algorithm calculates the potency of a story’s plot structure and estimates how many people will like the story. The number of people and current ticket prices gives us the box-office revenue.
Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences. Moana 2 has a script potential score is 0.05 and the movie will appeal to 1.48% - 1.80% of the population.
Our estimate of the movie's revenues from its script is $63–100MM in the domestic market.
3. The ideal plot structure of Nosferatu
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: Ellen mirrors the universal quest for Order
Ellen’s desire for Order stems from the need to maintain social stability. The tale of Bhishm from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Order.
Quest 2: Orlok mirrors the universal quest for Power
Orlok’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Ravan from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Power.
3B. Gaps in the current plot structure
The plot structure suffers due to the shallow quests of Ellen, Orlok and Von Franz.
However, the major flaw with the plot structure is the choice of universal quest for Thomas. Odysseus’ quest does have escape from captivity, aid from Aeolus and then betrayal by his men who release the bag of winds. But these events are a small part of Odysseus’ quest. If more events are borrowed, then the basic story of Nosferatu changes. As a result, Thomas’ quest lacks magnitude because it borrows events from Odysseus’ quest.
3C. Unlocking the hidden potential
Nosferatu’s script is a subset of Mythosis Plot structure #451,802. The revenue potential of Nosferatu’s script is marginally enhanced by borrowing the missing events from this plot structure. The additional events deepen the quests of Ellen, Orlok, and Von Franz. However, this plot structure doesn’t help in deepening the quest of Thomas.
Mythosis has found another plot structure #451,192 that replaces Odysseus’ quest with Oedipus. The quest of Oedipus builds on the existing story while deepening Thomas’ quest. The resultant plot structure unlocks the hidden potential of Nosferatu’s script.
Mythosis Plot structure #451,192 enhances current revenues by ~9X!
Tags:Character development, Long range prediction, Mythology, Nosferatu, Plot Structure, storytelling
