Skyfall's compelling story emerges from weaving 3 quests
Est vs Actual domestic box office revenue: $229 – 280MM vs $304MM
87% of the events are borrowed from 4 mythological tales
Directed by Sam Mendes, Skyfall explores the basic human desires of ensuring order, upholding honour and a raw display of power. Mythosis, harnesses 4 mythological tales to extract the unique plot structure of Skyfall. The plot structure reveals the reasons behind the compelling story and also exposes the gaps.
1. Mythological tales reveal the invisible plot structure of any story
1A. 87% of the events are borrowed from 4 mythological tales
Bond's quest is driven by the desire to serve one’s clan and mirrors the tale of Hanuman from Hindu mythology. Hanuman & Bond demonstrate loyalty, showing a willingness to sacrifice themselves.
Bond also has a quest that mirrors some events from the tale of Odysseus. Both Odysseus & Bond overcome an adversary to save their loved ones.
M’s quest is driven by the desire to maintain stability and mirrors the tale of Bhishm from Hindu mythology. Both Bhishm & "M" take a vow to protect their kingdom from falling into chaos.
Silva’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others and mirrors the tale of Circe from Greek mythology. Both Circe & Silva create a façade to acquire whatever they please.
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 Skyfall is a subset of plot structure #15,523 that interweaves the tales of Bhishm, Circe & Hanuman.
2. Plot structure potential of Skyfall: $229-280MM
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. Skyfall uses 4 universal quests of Tranquillity, Honour, Order and Power
In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Bond mirrors the universal quests of Honour & Tranquillity. “M” mirrors the quest of Order. Silva mirrors the universal quest of Power.
Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Bond borrows 40% of events from the quest of Honour & 8% of events from the quest of Tranquillity. “M” borrows 14% from the quest of Order. Silva borrows 40% 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. Skyfall has a perfect quest interweaving score of 1. An example of interweaving the quests of Bond & Silva:
2B. Estimating revenue potential from the plot structure
The strength of Skyfall's plot structure lies in deeply using 2 universal quests. The quests of Bond & Silva are extremely deep that makes them layered and complex. The plot structure also reveals a major gap in the story due to the inconsistency in Bond’s character. The hidden potential is harnessing the universal quest of Order that would strengthen M’s quest.
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.
Skyfall has a script potential score is 0.31 and the movie will appeal to 9.15 – 11.19% of the population. Our estimate of the movie’s revenues from its audience appeal is $229 – 280MM in the domestic market. The movie’s actual revenue was $304MM.
3. The ideal plot structure of Skyfall
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: Bond mirrors the universal quest for Honour
Bond’s desire for Honour stems from the need to serve one’s clan/order. The tale of Hanuman from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Honour.
Quest 2: “M” mirrors the universal quest for Order
M’s desire for Order stems from the need to maintain stability. The tale of Bhishm from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Order.
Quest 3: Silva mirrors the universal quest for Power
Silva’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Circe from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Power.
Tags:2012, Bhishm, Circe, Columbia Pictures, Eon Productions, Hanuman, Honour, John Logan, Long range prediction, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Mythology, Neal Purvis, Order, Plot Structure, Power, Robert Wade, Sam Mendes, Sony Pictures Releasing, storytelling
