Ballerina
Disconnect between character’s purpose and journey
ESTIMATED domestic box office revenue
$46 – 72MM
Mythosis universal quests used
3
Audience appeal
1.25 – 1.53%
Hidden potential
$728 – 796MM
Set in the John Wick universe, this 2025 movie preserves the franchise’s signature action sequences. Directed by Len Wiseman, the story takes place between John Wick: Chapter 3 & 4. The plot follows a young woman out for vengeance against a ruthless organization responsible for her father’s death, with John Wick aiding her mission.
However, the script focuses on a singular revenge-driven pursuit, sidelining the development of other characters. Moreover, her desire to punish those responsible intertwines with a search for an elusive figure, resulting in an inconsistent character. While the movie delivers intense action sequences, it struggles to build emotional depth and doesn’t explore thematic complexity.
1. The invisible plot structure of Ballerina
1A. The script of Ballerina borrows 87% of its events from 3 mythological tales
The desire to dominate others drives The Chancellor’s quest for Power. The quest borrows events from the tale of Ravan in Hindu mythology. Both Ravan and The Chancellor acquire unscrupulously without any concern for the consequences.
Eve’s quest driven by the desire to punish offenders borrows events from the tale of Dron in Hindu mythology. Both Dron and Eve seek to avenge the humiliation of their loved ones.
But Eve is primarily driven by the desire to find an elusive person/object. The quest borrows events from the tale of Jason in Greek mythology. Similar to Jason setting out to find The Golden Fleece, Eve embarks on finding her father’s murderer.
John Wick’s underdeveloped quest borrows few events from the tale of Hanuman in Hindu mythology.
Lena’s underdeveloped quest borrows few events from the tale of Prometheus in Greek mythology.
The Director, Winston & Nogi have no quest.
Mythosis plot structure
#19,581
Tales interweaved
Ravan, Dron & Jason
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 Ballerina's plot structure: $46–72MM
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. The Code is a set of principles for creating compelling stories. These storytelling principles reveal the strength of a story’s plot structure.
2A. Plot structure evaluation of Ballerina
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Ballerina uses 2 universal quests of Expedition & Power. The quest of Vengeance is sparingly used.
- In Blockbusters, every character mirrors ONLY ONE universal quest. Eve mirrors the quest of Vengeance & Expedition whereas The Chancellor mirrors Power.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Eve borrows 28% events from the universal quest of Expedition. The Chancellor borrows 19% events from Power. Eve borrows 6% events from the quest of Vengeance.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story.Ballerina’s quest interweaving score of 0.33 is below par.
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Ballerina
The script of Ballerina has two characters quests but these quests are inconsistent and/or shallow.
The Script Score measures the potency of a plot structure. Higher its adherence to the principles of Mythosis Code, greater is the potency. The Script Score helps 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
0.04
Audience appeal
1.25% – 1.53%
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 Ballerina
We have identified 32 mythological tales. These are the superset of all tales across cultures. The quests of these tales have recurred over time periods. They represent human behaviours 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.
32 mythological tales strengthen the story and unlock its hidden potential. First, we map a character’s quest to the relevant mythological tale. This exercise reveals the gaps in their quest, if any. Second, identify missing events to plug the gaps. Plugging gaps deepens the character quest. Third, use missing events to strengthen the interweaving between various quests.
3A. Gaps in the current plot structure
The weakness of Ballerina’s plot structure lies in inconsistent, shallow and unexplored quests.
3B. Unlocking the hidden potential
The hidden potential of Ballerina can be unlocked by creating a story around siblings reuniting after their family is destroyed by two warring organizations. This story emerges from Mythosis Plot structure # 39,232,827 that interweaves the tales of Ravan, Dron, Jason, Hanuman & Prometheus.
- This plot structure sets the rivalry between The Chancellor & The Director resulting in the death of Eve & Lena’s parents. Each organization adopts one of the siblings resulting in their separation. Against this backdrop, Eve embarks on a journey to reunite with her Lena, who perceives her as an enemy.
- The plot structure weaves five unique arcs and explores fundamental human desires of Power, Vengeance, Expedition, Honour & Idealism
- It deepens the characters of Eve & The Chancellor. At the same time, builds & incorporates the characters of The Director, Lena & John Wick into a cohesive story.
This plot structure has the potential to generate domestic box office revenues of $728 – 796MM.
Explore Mythosis Plot structure #39,232,827 to enhance current revenues by 11X!
Tags: Ravan, Power, Jason, Expedition, Len Wiseman, Shay Hatten, Lionsgate, 2025