Red One
Santa saves himself as the story loses the plot
ESTIMATED domestic box office revenue
$67 – 107MM
Mythosis universal quests used
3
Audience appeal
1.60%-1.95%
Hidden potential
$720 – 780MM
Red One is a Christmas fantasy movie revolving around the kidnapping of Santa Claus. The story follows the head of North Pole security teaming up with a notorious hacker to find Santa Claus and save Christmas. The plot structure, extracted with 3 mythological tales, reveals that every character has a shallow quest. Shallow quests not only lead to one-dimensional characters but also cause noticeable plot gaps.
1. The invisible plot structure of Red One
1A. The script of Red One borrows 87% of its events from 3 mythological tales
Callum’s quest is driven by the desire to protect loved ones. The quest borrows events from Demeter’s tale in Greek mythology. Both Demeter and Callum embark on finding their abducted loved one.
Jack’s quest is driven by the desire to be in a secure environment. The quest borrows events from Valmiki’s tale in Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki & Jack are self-centred but have a change of heart and sacrifice their interest. Jack’s quest is split between the main story and the parallel story both of which aren’t connected.
Gryla’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others. The quest borrows events from Ravan’s tale in Hindu mythology. Both Ravan and Gryla take whatever they want without any concern for the consequences.
Callum’s quest subsumes the quests of Zoe & Krampus. Zoe portrays Helios, who informs Demeter about the abductor. Krampus portrays Zeus, who helps Demeter after refusing initially.
Nicholas has no quest.
NOTE: Detailed mirroring of each character’s primary quest to their respective mythological tales is in section “3A. Quests of characters in Red One and their mythological counterparts”
Mythosis plot structure
#6,724
Tales interweaved
Valmiki, Ravan & Demeter
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 Red One’s plot structure: $67 – 107MM
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 Red One
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Red One uses 3 universal quests of Family, Power & Accumulation.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Callum mirrors the universal quest of Family. Jack mirrors the quests of Accumulation. Gryla mirrors the universal quest of Power.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Callum borrows 16% from the quest of Family. Jack borrows 20% from the quest of Accumulation. Gryla borrows 16% from the quest of Power.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Red One’s quest interweaving score of 0.67 is above par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Callum & Gryla:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Red One
The fantasy story of Red One adheres to three principles of the Mythosis Code. It is however undone by 3 shallow quests. Shallow quests has resulted in uni-dimensional characters. More importantly it has created gaps in the plot structure.
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
0.06
Audience appeal
1.60% - 1.95%
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 Red One
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 in Red One and their mythological counterparts
Quest 1: Callum mirrors the universal quest for Family
Callum’s desire for Family stems from the need to protect loved ones. The tale of Demeter from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Family.
Quest 2: Jack mirrors the universal quest for Accumulation
Jack’s desire for Accumulation stems from the need to collect and 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: Gryla mirrors the universal quest for Power
Gryla’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Ravan from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Power.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
Red One’s plot structure is disjointed and weak because each quest is shallow but also spread over 5 arcs. Each quest leaves out critical events resulting in story gaps.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
Red One’s plot is a subset of Mythosis plot structure #4,360 that interweaves the mythological tales of Valmiki, Ravan & Demeter.
a. Plot structure #4,360 can be used to deepen the quests of all the 3 characters.
b. The revised plot structure increases the average character depth to 35% from the current 17%. It also has perfect interweaving of the 3 quests.
Leverage Mythosis plot structure #4360 to enhance current revenues by 10x!
Tags: Ravan, Power, Valmiki, Accumulation, Demeter, Family, Jake Kasdan, Chris Morgan, Hiram Garcia, Amazon MGM Studios, 2024