Joker folie a deux
Fails to capture the madness of love stories
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$20 – 37MM/ $58MM
Mythosis universal quests used
4
Audience appeal
0.57% – 0.69%
Hidden Potential
$700 – 750MM
Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker 2 continues Fleck’s story as he stumbles upon true love. The pursuit of love has high intensity, as rebellious as Romeo Juliet or as persevering as Savitri Satyavan or as sacrificial as Psyche Eros or as passionate as Iseult Tristan but the sequel fails to reach such intense heights. Mythosis, with the help of mythological tales, has extracted the plot structure of the movie to estimate and unlock its potential.
1. The invisible plot structure of Joker 2
1A. The script of Joker 2 borrows 96% of its events from 4 mythological tales
Arthur’s quest is driven by the desire to pursue love and mirrors the tale of Leander from Greek mythology. Both Leander and Arthur strive to get reunited with their true love.
Arthur’s quest is also driven by the desire to be righteous and mirrors the tale of Prometheus from Greek mythology. Prometheus is punished by Zeus for helping Man. Similarly, on giving up his Joker persona Arthur is deserted by Lee and killed by a fan.
Lee’s quest is driven by the desire for selfish ambition and mirrors the tale of Valmiki from Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki and Lee are self-centred, even to the point of sacrificing their loved ones.
Maryanne’s quest is driven by the desire to gain respect and borrows events from the tale of Joseph from Abrahamic mythology. The employers of both Joseph & Maryanne are manipulated to punish them.
Sullivan has an underdeveloped quest driven by the desire to punish offenders.
NOTE: Detailed mirroring of each character’s primary quest to their respective mythological tales is in section “3A. Quests of characters and their mythological counterparts”
Mythosis plot structure
#4,463
Tales interweaved
Valmiki, Leander & Joseph
I. How does interweaving mythological tales lead to infinite story plots?
II. Can the pursuit of a Desire have more than one quest?
2. The potential of Joker 2’s plot structure: $20 – 37MM
The interweaving of 32 mythological tales can generate a billion unique stories. By using these 32 tales, we can extract the plot structure of any story across various genres. Our study of blockbuster, hit, and flop plot structures led to the discovery of the Mythosis Code, a set of principles for creating compelling stories. The plot structure of a story is analyzed to see how well it adheres to these storytelling principles.
2A. Plot structure evaluation of Joker 2
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Joker 2 uses 4 universal quests of Romance, Accumulation, Idealism and Status
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Arthur mirrors the universal quests of Romance & Idealism. Lee mirrors the quests of Accumulation. Maryanne mirrors the universal quest of Status.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Arthur borrows 18% of events from the quest of Romance & 5% of events from the quest of Idealism. Lee borrows 10% from the quest of Accumulation. Maryanne borrows 7% from the quest of Status.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Joker 2 quest interweaving score of 0.67 is above par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Arthur & Lee:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Joker 2
Every character in Joker 2 has a shallow quest. As a result, they aren’t layered or complex but more importantly it creates gaps in the plot structure. Moreover, Arthur’s quest is inconsistent even after factoring for his split personality.
The Script Score measures a plot structure’s adherence to the four principles of Mythosis Code. We use the Script Score to estimate a movie’s audience appeal & revenues. Blockbuster plot structures have a score of at least 0.64 and appeal to 20% of the audiences.
Script Score
0.02
Audience appeal
0.57% – 0.69%
I. How is Mythosis Code used to estimate revenues?
II. Aren’t box-office revenues influenced by several factors beyond just the story plot?
3. The ideal plot structure of Joker 2
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: Arthur mirrors the universal quest for Romance
Arthur’s desire for Romance stems from the need to pursue love. The tale of Leander from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Romance.
Quest 2: Lee mirrors the universal quest for Accumulation
Lee’s desire for Accumulation stems from the need to collect & 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: D-16 mirrors the universal quest for Accumulation
D-16’s desire for Accumulation stems from the need to collect & 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.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
Joker 2’s plot structure is disjointed and weak mainly due to Arthur’s inconsistent quest. The problems are further compounded by shallow character quests because of which there is low audience investment in either the characters or the story.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
Mythosis has found two plot structures that can enhance the script of Joker 2. The first one improves the current script by deepening & amending the existing quests. The second plot structure explores “folie a deux”
- Joker 2’s plot is a subset of Mythosis plot structure #4463 that interweaves the universal quests of Romance, Accumulation & Status. This plot structure can generate revenues of $~550MM in the domestic market.
- Plot structure #4463 uses four arcs from Leander’s quest, three arcs from the quest of Valmiki/Scrooge and one arc (the same one used in the current script) from Joseph’s quest.
- Borrowing additional events from the two mythological tales adds depth to the quests of Arthur and Lee.
- The plot structure highlights events that make Arthur’s quest inconsistent
- Mythosis has found a plot structure that is truly about double madness in plot structure #588,474. It interweaves the fulfilled & unfulfilled universal quests of Romance, Vengeance & Status. This plot structure has blockbuster potential & can generate ~$750MM revenues in the domestic market.
- In this plot structure Arthur mirrors Leander’s quest, Maryanne mirrors Joseph’s quest and Sullivan has a well-developed quest mirroring Duryodhan’s tale.
- Lee mirrors Savitri’s tale from Hindu mythology.
- The tales of Leander & Savitri are the two universal quests of Romance
- Both the tales epitomize the madness that true love inspires. Leander risks his life, while Savitri confronts the God of Death, all for the sake of their loved ones.
Mythosis plot structure #588,474 can generate revenues of ~$750MM!
Tags: Valmiki, Leander, Joseph, Accumulation, Status, Romance, Todd Phillips, Scott Silver, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2024