A Working Man
No one can whistle a symphony, it takes an orchestra to play it — Halford E. Luccock
ESTIMATED domestic box office revenue
$33 – 48MM
Mythosis universal quests used
4
Audience appeal
~1.00%
Hidden potential
$497 – 547MM
Released in 2025 A Working Man is directed by David Ayer and co-written with Sylvester Stallone. The movie showcases Jason Statham’s military expertise as he embarks on a mission to rescue his employer’s daughter from Russian traffickers.
The script is disjointed since a singular quest of Statham with no obstacles is interspersed with several other characters with shallow quests. The script builds themes of nationalism, human trafficking and xenophobia at the cost of a cohesive plot.
1. The invisible plot structure of A Working Man
1A. Script of A Working Man borrows 89% of its events from 4 mythological tales
Levon’s quest is driven by the desire for honour. Both Hanuman & Levon demonstrate unquestioned loyalty and undertake a dangerous mission to recover an abducted person.
Levon is also driven by the desire of protecting loved ones and borrows few events from Demeter’s tale.
Dimi’s underdeveloped quest is driven by the desire to dominate others. The quest borrows events from the tale of Ravan in Hindu mythology. Both Ravan and Dimi acquire unscrupulously without any concern for the consequences.
Symon’s non-existent quest borrows a few events from the tale of Kans in Hindu mythology. Both Kans & Symon recognize a threat but fail to neutralize it.
Jenny, Gunny, Butch & Wolo have no quests.
Mythosis plot structure
# 630
Tales interweaved
Ravan & Hanuman
I. How does interweaving mythological tales lead to infinite story plots?
II. Can the pursuit of a Desire have more than one quest?
2. Potential of A Working Man’s plot structure: $33-48MM
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 A Working Man
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. A Working Man uses the universal quest of Honour. The quests of Power, Family & Preservation are sparingly used.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Levon mirrors the universal quests of Honour & Family.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Levon borrows 30% events from the quest of Honour and a few events from the quest of Family.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. A Working Man doesn’t have a quest interweaving score since it borrows largely from one quest.
2B. Box office revenue estimation of A Working Man
A Working Man’s plot structure is made from a singular quest that doesn’t have any obstacles. The plot also has several characters with motives but shallow or non-existent quests. A single quest with several other shallow quests makes the plot disjointed.
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. Snow White has a script score of 0.03 and will appeal to ~1.00% of the population.
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 A Working Man
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. Gaps in the current plot structure
A disjointed plot structure due to a single quest interspersed with several other characters with shallow quests.
3B. Unlocking the hidden potential
The hidden potential of A Working Man is unlocked by Mythosis Plot structure # 5,292 that interweaves the tales of Innana, Ravan & Hanuman. It interweaves three universal quests of curiosity, power & honour.
The best match for Jenny’s character is the quest of curiosity. This quest borrows events from the tale of Innana in Sumerian mythology. Both Innana and Jenny pay the price for their imprudence and have to be rescued.
Mythosis plot structure #5,292 has three characters with meaningful quests and a seamless script.
- Jenny is assigned a quest of Curiosity
- Dimi’s quest of Power is enriched
- Both these quests are intertwined with Levon’s quest of Honour
This plot structure can generate domestic revenues of $497 – 547MM!
Explore Mythosis plot structure # 5,292 that enhances current revenues by 14X!
Tags: Odysseus, Tranquillity, Ravan, Power, Hanuman, Honour, David Ayer, Sylvester Stallone, Amazon MGM Studios, 2025