Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
EST V ACT domestic box office revenue
$30 – 36MM V $40MM
Mythosis universal quests used
5
Audience appeal
1.01 – 1.24%
Script Score
0.04
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a 2017 movie directed by Luc Besson. It’s based on the French science fiction comics series “Valérian and Laureline” by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières. The story revolves around two special operatives who must protect the space station Alpha from a dark force that threatens not only the city but the future of the universe.
1. The invisible plot structure of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
1A. The script of Valerian... Thousand Planets borrows 90% of its events from 5 mythological tales
Valerian & Laureline’s quest is driven by the desire for fairness and justice. The quest borrows events from the tale of Prometheus from Greek mythology. Similar to Prometheus, Valerian & Laureline rebel to prevent exploitation by unscrupulous forces.
Laureline’s quest also borrows events from the tale of Jason in Greek mythology. Jason’s search for the Golden Fleece is similar to Laureline’s hunt for Valerian.
Valerian’s quest also borrows events from the tale of Ram in Hindu mythology. Both Ram & Valerian recover their abducted loved ones.
Filitt is driven by the desire to dominate others. The quest borrows events from the tale of Circe in Greek mythology. Similar to Circe, Filitt uses deceit to achieve his objectives.
Muls’ quest is 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 Muls navigate their way through hostile territory.
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
# 18,121
Tales interweaved
Circe, Prometheus and Odysseus
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 Valerian... Thousand Planets' plot structure: $30 – 36MM
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 Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
- All Blockbusters have at least 3 universal quests. Valerian... Thousand Planets has 2 universal quests of Idealism & Power. The other quests of Expedition, Order & Tranquillity are used sparingly.
- In Blockbusters, each universal quest is mirrored by ONLY ONE character. Val/Lau together mirror the universal quest of Idealism and individually Laureline mirrors Expedition & Valerian mirrors Order. Filitt mirrors the quest of Power whereas Muls mirror the quest of Tranquillity.
- Every Blockbuster character borrows at least 35% of the universal quest. Val/Lau together borrow 21% events from the quest for Idealism. Laureline borrows 8% events from the quest for Expedition. Valerian borrows 9% events from the quest for Order. Filitt borrows 18% events from the quest for Power. Muls borrows 10% events from the quest for Tranquillity.
- Blockbusters have a quest interweaving threshold of 0.5. Interweaving occurs when events of 2 quests occur simultaneously in the story. Valerian… Thousand Planets’ quest interweaving score is 0.33 and is below par.
An example of interweaving the quest of Laureline/Valerian & Muls:
2B. Box office revenue estimation of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Both the lead characters borrow from multiple quests making their quest inconsistent. All characters lack depth and are inadequately 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.
Script Score
0.04
Audience appeal
1.01 – 1.24%
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 Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
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: Valerian & Laureline mirrors the universal quest for Idealism
Val/Lau’s desire for Idealism stems from the need for fairness & justice. The tale of Prometheus from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Idealism.
Quest 2: Filitt mirrors the universal quest for Power
Filitt’s desire for Power stems from the need to dominate others. The tale of Circe from Greek mythology is the fulfilled quest for Power.
Quest 3: Muls mirrors the universal quest for Tranquillity
Muls’ desire for Tranquillity stems from the need to be in secure surroundings. The tale of Odysseus from Greek mythology is the universal quest for Tranquillity.
3B.Gaps in the current plot structure
The plot structure reveals inconsistent and/or shallow quests for every character.
3C.Unlocking the hidden potential
The plot of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a subset of plot structure # 18,121. It emerges from interweaving the tales of Circe, Prometheus and Odysseus.
Contact us for Mythosis plot structure # 18,121
Tags: Prometheus, Odysseus, Ram, Circe, Gilgamesh, Idealism, Power, Order, Expedition, Tranquillity, Luc Besson, Buena Vista International, STX Films, 2017