The First Omen’s plot potential is $18 – 31MM (actual $20MM)
Current plot structure will appeal to 0.58 – 0.72% of the population
Mythosis plot structure enhances revenue to ~$175MM in the domestic market
The First Omen depicts the struggle of a devout Catholic woman against unscrupulous forces intent on bringing forth the Antichrist. The movie serves as a prequel to Omen, the 1976 film. The untapped possibilities of the film are 7x of the current potential. Mythosis, extracts the movie’s plot structure to unlocks its potential.
Mythological tales reveal the invisible Plot Structure of The First Omen
Stories are an interweaving of quests, each representing a fundamental human desire. These desires echo across time and cultures, finding their universal counterparts in mythological tales.
89% of the events in the story is borrowed from three mythological tales. There are 2 prominent characters in the movie.
Lawrence’s quest mirrors the tale of Circe from Greek mythology, where both are driven by the desire to dominate others. Circe creates a façade of godliness and uses her witchcraft to control. Cardinal Lawrence ensures atheists return to the Church by resorting to an unscrupulous plan.
Margaret’s quest mirrors the tale of Noah from Abrahamic mythology, where both are driven by the desire to survive a threat. Noah is tasked and helped by God to build an ark. Margaret learns about an impending threat from Father Brennan and is tasked with finding “Scianna”.
Margaret’s quest also mirrors the tale of Prometheus from Greek mythology, where both are driven by the desire for fairness & justice. Zeus’ trusted lieutenant, Prometheus rebels against him. Margaret rebels against her mentor, Cardinal Lawrence.
Father Brennan has an underdeveloped quest. He’s driven by the desire to find a hidden person or object.
Detailed mirroring of each character to their respective mythological tales is in section “Unlocking the Ideal Plot Structure”
Blockbusters differ from Flops in the way they borrow from mythological tales
Blockbuster stories consistently defy the norms of conventional plot structures. The analysis of Blockbuster, Hit & Flop plot structures across decades and genres has uncovered an optimal method for incorporating mythological tales into storytelling. The Mythosis Code for creating blockbuster plot structures has the following principles.
Every blockbuster plot structure borrows events from at least three mythological tales.
Blockbuster characters are consistent and complex. Each character in the story reflects events from a single mythological tale, and the degree of mirroring is approximately 35%.
Blockbusters create a cohesive plot structure by intricately weaving the multiple tales. Characters are woven with each other through their quests and not merely by relationships. Quests become interconnected when events from two mythological tales occur simultaneously within the story.
Mythosis Code evaluation of The First Omen’s Plot structure
The First Omen’s plot structure borrows from three mythological tales.
Margaret’s character mirrors events from two tales making her inconsistent. Lawrence uniquely mirrors a single tale.
Lawrence borrows 36% of the events from Circe’s quest. Margaret borrows 39% of the events from Prometheus’ quest. She also borrows 24% of the events from Noah’s quest.
Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.50. In The First Omen none of the quests are interwoven.
Estimated potential of The First Omen’s Plot Structure
Each one of us is driven by at least one desire, which is why specific mythological tales resonate with us. When a story interweaves more tales, it broadens the story’s appeal to a wider audience. However, to realize the power of multiple quests, the quests must have sufficient depth and they should be interwoven.
The First Omen has two powerful quests but their lack of interweaving and Margaret’s inconsistent quest weakens 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.
The First Omen’s plot structure has a score of 0.02. The First Omen will appeal to 0.58 – 0.72% of the population. Our estimate of the movie’s revenues from its audience appeal is $18 – 31MM in the domestic market.
Unlocking the Ideal Plot Structure of The First Omen
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 each character’s journey and weaving of quests without altering the story.
Extraction of each character quest
Quest 1: Lawrence mirrors the universal quest for Power
Lawrence’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Circe from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Power.
Quest 2: Margaret mirrors the universal quest for Preservation
Margaret’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.
Quest 3: Margaret also mirrors the universal quest for Idealism
Margaret’s desire for Idealism stems from the need for fairness & justice. The tale of Prometheus from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Idealism.
Ideal Plot structure reconstruction
The plot structure of The First Omen erroneously borrows from the quest of Noah. Since Margaret fails to stop Damien’s birth, the attribution of Noah’s fulfilled quest to her is fallacious. Using the quests of Prometheus and Circe is apt since it is a combination of an unfulfilled and a fulfilled quest. The plot structure made with only these quests doubles the potential.
Borrowing additional events from both these tales makes the quests of Margaret & Lawrence stronger and also interweaves their quests. Deepening the quests results in 7x increase in potential.
Assigning a quest to Father Brennan furthers enhance the potential. Currently, he has an underdeveloped quest that can be developed by borrowing events from the mythological tale of Gilgamesh, the universal unfulfilled quest for Expedition.
All blockbusters are made of at least 3 mythological tales with an average depth of 35%+ for each tale. Since the current plot structure has 2 powerful quests, incorporating a third quest of Gilgamesh would have made The First Omen much bigger than the original.
Tags:2024, 20th Century Studios, Arkasha Stevenson, Character Arcs, Circe, Idealism, Keith Thomas, Mythology, Noah, Phantom Four, Power, Preservation, Prometheus, Screenwriting, Story plot, storytelling, Tim Smith
