The Old Guard
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$115 – 141MM V NA
Mythosis universal quests used
4
Audience appeal
3.80 – 4.64%
Script Score
0.13
The Old Guard released in 2020 & directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood is based on Greg Rucka’s comic book. The story reimagines the epic Ramayan in which Ravan abducts Ram’s wife, Sita. In the movie, a pharma boss masterminds the abduction of a millennia old mercenary’s team members.
1. The invisible plot structure of The Old Guard
1A. The script of The Old Guard borrows 89% of its events from 4 mythological tales
Andy’s quest is driven by the desire for social stability. The quest borrows events from the tale of Ram from Hindu mythology. Both Ram & Andy decimate “demons” who threaten the social order to recover their loved ones.
Nile’s quest is driven by the desire for honour & loyalty. The quest borrows events from the tale of Hanuman in Hindu mythology. Both Hanuman & Nile demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice themselves to protect their friends.
Booker’s quest is driven by selfishness. The quest borrows events from the tale of Valmiki in Hindu mythology. Both Valmiki & Booker are self-centred but eventually have a change of heart and sacrifice their interest.
Merrick’s quest is driven by the desire to dominate others. The quest borrows events from the tale of Ravan in Hindu mythology. Both Ravan and Merrick take whatever they want without any concern for the consequences.
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
# 127,739
Tales interweaved
Valmiki, Ravan, Ram & 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. The potential of The Old Guard's plot structure: $115-141MM
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 Old Guard
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. The Old Guard has 4 universal quests of Order, Honour, Accumulation & Power.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Andy mirrors the universal quests of Order. Nile mirrors the quest of Honour. Merrick mirrors the quest of Power whereas Booker mirrors Accumulation.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Andy borrows 36% events from the quest for Order. Nile borrows 30% events from the quest for Honour. Merrick borrows 12% events from the quest of Power and Booker 16% from Accumulation.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. The Old Guard’s quest interweaving score of 0.33 is below par.
An example of interweaving the quests of Andy & Merrick:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of The Old Guard
The plot structure of The Old Guard has three characters with quests of moderate depth and an overall weak interweaving of quests.
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
0.13
Audience appeal
3.80 – 4.64%
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 Old Guard
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: Andy mirrors the universal quest for Order
Andy’s desire for Order stems from the need to maintain social stability. The tale of Ram from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Order.
Quest 2: Nile mirrors the universal quest for Honour
Nile’s desire for Honour stems from the need to be loyal to ones’ clan/order. The tale of Hanuman from Hindu mythology is the universal quest for Honour.
Quest 3: Booker mirrors the universal quest for Accumulation
Booker’s desire for Accumulation stems from the need to collect & own. The tale of Valimiki from Hindu mythology has a robust expression in Dicken’s character of Scrooge which is the universal quest for Accumulation.
Quest 4: Merrick mirrors the universal quest for Power
Merrick’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
The plot structure relies on the quests of Andy and to some extent Nile. The character quests of Merrick & Booker is quite shallow.
Under developed quests of three characters has also impacted the cohesiveness of the story.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
Plot of The Old Guard is a sub set of Mythosis Plot Structure # 127,739. It interweaves the tales of Valmiki, Ravan, Ram & Hanuman.
Unlock hidden potential with Mythosis Plot Structure # 127,739!
Tags: Hanuman, Valmiki, Ram, Ravan, Order, Honour, Power, Accumulation, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Skydance, Denver and Delilah Productions, Netflix, 2020