Treasure Hunt Movie Basics

So, I read a bunch of plots, and I distilled them down to a basic repeated structure/ series of devices and beats that are listed above. 

A lot of traditional treasure hunt stories are about the idea of greed corrupting people — I don’t think we necessarily want to go the corruption route, but I do think the message can be something about the ‘real’ treasure being something unexpected.

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Major Beats in Treasure Hunt Story

1. Unlikely pair/ trio meet. Team up to find treasure.
2. Discover they have competition/ opposition on the hunt.
3. Encounter obstacles — get lost, ship sinks, technology malfunctions, etc.
4. Midpoint — get treasure, or get significantly closer
5. BGCI — one of the people gets captured/ kidnapped/ goes missing
6. New goal shifts to finding missing member
7. Get person, but lose treasure OR finally get treasure, think person is lost forever
8. Twist — someone in the group has been lying all along — about the treasure, their intentions once they find the treasure, who they are, something unexpected here within the group dynamic
9. Options
   1. Lose treasure in favor of saving person
   2. Save person, find out treasure was never what they expected anyway
   3. Trick bad guys into thinking they are getting treasure in exchange for person, but keep person and treasure
   4. Save person, defeat bad guys, leave treasure behind because — it’s about the hunt not the prize

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