Red One: Santa saves himself as the story loses the plot
Script potential at Domestic box office: $67 – 107MM
The Ideal Plot structure enhances revenues by 10X!
Red One is a Christmas fantasy movie revolving around the kidnapping of Santa Claus. The story follows the head of North Pole security teaming up with a notorious hacker to find Santa Claus and save Christmas. The plot structure, extracted with 3 mythological tales, reveals that every character has a shallow quest. Shallow quests not only lead to one-dimensional characters but also cause gaps in the plot structure. Mythosis, extracts the unique plot structure of a movie to estimate & unlock its potential.
1. Mythological tales reveal the invisible plot structure of Red One
1A. 87% of the events in Red One are borrowed from 3 mythological tales
Callum’s quest is driven by the desire to protect loved ones and borrows events from the tale of Demeter from Greek mythology. Both Demeter and Callum embark on finding their abducted loved one.
Jack’s quest is driven by the desire to own and mirrors the tale of Valmiki from Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki & Jack are self-centred but have a change of heart and sacrifice their interest. Jack’s quest is split between the main story and the parallel story both of which aren’t connected.
Gryla’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others and borrows events from the tale of Ravan from Hindu mythology. Both Ravan and Gryla take whatever they want without any concern for the consequences.
The quests of Zoe & Krampus are subsumed in Callum’s quest. Zoe portrays Helios, who informs Demeter about the abductor. Krampus portrays Zeus, who helps Demeter after refusing initially.
Nicholas has no quest.
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. Red One’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 Red One is a subset of plot structure #4,360 that interweaves the tales of Valmiki, Ravan & Demeter.
2. Plot structure potential of Red One: $67-107MM
2A. Red One’s 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. Red One uses 3 universal quests of Family, Power & Accumulation.
In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Callum mirrors the universal quest of Family. Jack mirrors the quests of Accumulation. Gryla mirrors the universal quest of Power.
Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Callum borrows 16% from the quest of Family. Jack borrows 20% from the quest of Accumulation. Gryla borrows 16% from the quest of Power.
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. Red One’s quest interweaving score of 0.67 is above par. An example of interweaving the quests of Callum & Gryla:
2B. Estimating Red One’s revenue potential from its plot structure
The fantasy story of Red One is undone by 3 shallow quests. Shallow quests, not only result in uni-dimensional characters but also create gaps in the plot structure.
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.
Red One has a script potential score is 0.06 and the movie will appeal to 1.60% - 1.95% of the population. Our estimate of the movie’s revenues from its script is $67 – 107MM in the domestic market.
3. The ideal plot structure of Red One
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: Callum mirrors the universal quest for Family
Callum’s desire for Family stems from the need to protect loved ones. The tale of Demeter from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Family.
Quest 2: Jack mirrors the universal quest for Accumulation
Jack’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.
Quest 3: Gryla mirrors the universal quest for Power
Gryla’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
Red One’s plot structure is weak because each quest is shallow. It's also disjointed since the events are spread over 5 arcs. Each quest leaves out critical events resulting in story gaps.
3C. Unlocking the hidden potential
Red One’s plot is a subset of Mythosis plot structure #4,360 that interweaves the mythological tales of Valmiki, Ravan & Demeter.
1. It deepens the quests of all the 3 characters without changing the story.
2. The ideal plot structure increases the average character depth to 35% from the current 17%. It also has perfect interweaving of the 3 quests.
It is a blockbuster plot structure and can enhance current revenues by 10x!
Tags:2024, Accumulation, Amazon MGM Studios, Chris Morgan, Demeter, Hiram Garcia, Jake Kasdan, Long range prediction, Mythology, Plot Structure, Power, Ravan, storytelling, Valmiki
