Speak No Evil: a short story stretched over 110 minutes
Estimated domestic box office revenue: $17 – 32MM
Speak No Evil directed by James Watkins is a remake of a 2022 Danish film. The story reimagines Circe’s mythological arc in a different setting. Mythosis uses 3 mythological tales to extract the plot structure of the movie.
1. Mythological tales reveal the invisible plot structure of any story
1A. 85% of the events are borrowed from 3 mythological tales
Paddy's quest is driven by the desire to dominate others and mirrors the tale of Circe from Greek mythology. Circe & Paddy create a façade to lure unsuspecting victims. Ciara mirrors Paddy’s quest as an ally.
Louise’s quest is driven by the desire to be in safe surroundings and mirrors the tale of Odysseus from Greek mythology. Both Odysseus & Louise are stuck in inhospitable territory and plan their escape.
Louise’s quest is also driven by the desire to protect loved ones and mirrors the tale of Demeter from Greek mythology. Both Demeter and Louise suffer misfortune due to the imprudence of their loved ones.
The quests of Agnes & Ben are underdeveloped.
Ant doesn’t have a well-defined quest.
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 unique plot structure of Speak No Evil is # 618. It emerges from interweaving the quests of power & tranquillity as seen in the conflict of Circe & Odysseus.
2. Plot structure potential of Speak No Evil: $17-32MM
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. Speak No Evil uses 3 universal quests of Power, Family and Tranquillity.
In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Paddy mirrors the quest of Power whereas Louise mirrors the universal quests of Family & Tranquillity.
Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Paddy borrows 36% of events from the quest for Power. Louise borrows 16% from the quest of Tranquillity & 6% 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 Speak No Evil is 0.33 and is below par. An example of interweaving the quests of Louise & Paddy:
2B. Estimating revenue potential from the plot structure
The plot structure of Speak No Evil isn’t unique since it draws heavily from the mythological arc of Circe. A tale that has been retold multiple times in the past, by changing the world.
Relying on a singular quest for 110 minutes adversely impacts the pace – since there is a repetition of events in the story.
Moreover, the plot structure suffers from the inconsistent characterization of Louise since she pursues two quests of “family” & “tranquillity”.
Lastly, multiple characters have underdeveloped or no quest. As a result, there are gaps in the plot structure and characters aren’t nuanced enough.
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.
Speak No Evil has a script potential score is 0.02 and the movie will appeal to 0.44 – 0.54% of the population. Our estimate of the movie’s revenues from its audience appeal is $17 – 32MM in the domestic market.
