The Amateur
The Amateur perfectly describes its storyteller
ESTIMATED domestic box office revenue
$29 – 44MM
Mythosis universal quests used
5
Audience appeal
~0.90%
Hidden potential
$390 – 431MM
Released in 2025 The Amateur is directed by James Hawes and is based on Robert Littell’s 1981 novel. The story revolves around a CIA cryptographer seeking revenge after his wife is killed, a KGB widow who helps him and a corrupt CIA director.
The script fails to learn from the debacle of the previously made Canadian movie. The script is a patchwork of events, resulting in a muddled and inconsistent narrative for the protagonist’s quest. This issue is compounded by the superficial quests of other characters, weakening the overall impact.
1. The invisible plot structure of The Amateur
1A. Script of The Amateur borrows 92% of its events from 5 mythological tales
Charlie’s quest is driven by two desires of vengeance & tranquillity.
- Charlie’s quest is driven by the desire to punish offenders. The quest borrows events from the tale of Dron from Hindu mythology. Both Dron and Charlie seek to avenge the humiliation of their loved ones.
- Charlie’s quest is also driven by the desire to be in a safe environment. The quest borrows events from the tale of Odysseus in Greek mythology. Both Odysseus and Charlie navigate their way through hostile territory with the help of others.
Moore’s quest is driven by the desire to survive a threat. The quest borrows events from the tale of Kans in Hindu mythology. Both Kans & Moore recognize a threat but fail to neutralize it.
Inquiline’s underdeveloped quest is driven by the desire for honour. Both Hanuman & Inquiline demonstrate unquestioned loyalty even showing a willingness to sacrifice themselves to protect their friends.
O’Brien’s desire is to ensure order by weeding out unscrupulous individuals. The non-existent quest borrows a few events from Ram’s tale in Hindu mythology.
Mythosis plot structure
# 677,116
Tales interweaved
Kans, Dron, Odysseus & 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 The Amateur’s plot structure: $29-44MM
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 The Amateur
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. The Amateur uses the universal quest of Vengeance & Preservation. The quests of Tranquillity, Honour & Order are sparingly used.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Charlie mirrors the universal quests of Vengeance & Tranquillity. Moore mirrors the quest of Preservation. Inquiline mirrors Honour.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Charlie borrows 27% events from the quest of Vengeance and a few events from the quest of Tranquillity. Moore borrows 18% events from the quest of Preservation.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. The Amateur’s quest interweaving score of 0.33 is below par.
2B. Box office revenue estimation of The Amateur
The Amateur’s plot structure has 3 characters with clear motives but their quests are either inconsistent, shallow or under-developed.
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 ~0.90% 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 The Amateur
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 broken plot structure with inconsistent, shallow or under-developed quests.
3B. Unlocking the hidden potential
The hidden potential of The Amateur is unlocked by Mythosis Plot structure # 22,903 that interweaves the tales of Kans, Jason & Hanuman. It interweaves three universal quests of preservation, expedition & honour.
Mythosis plot structure #22,903 rectifies the issues of inconsistent, shallow or under-developed quests.
- It finds a singular quest for Charlie’s mission. Jason’s quest is superior, consistent and fits perfectly in the context. Charlie’s quest should be driven by the desire for finding an elusive person/object. The quest borrows events from the tale of Jason in Greek mythology. Jason’s desire to find The Golden Fleece is shared by Charlie’s mission to find the terrorist who murdered his wife.
- It also deepens the quest of Moore & Inquiline.
- It interweaves the three quests to create a cohesive story
This plot structure can generate domestic revenues of $390 – 431MM!
Explore Mythosis plot structure # 22,903 that enhances current revenues by 13X!
Tags: Kans, Preservation, Jason, Expedition, Hanuman, Honour, James Hawes, Ken Nolan, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 2025