Boxwish Blog

Will the Twilight movie boost the book's sales?

Posted by Team Boxwish on 21 November 2008 at 01.08PM

There have been a number of high-profile books getting the Tinseltown treatment this year from family fantasy such as The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian to historical biography The Duchess, from quirky comedy How To Lose Friends and Alienate People to classic literature Brideshead Revisited and there are even two on release from today – Body of Lies and Choke, but none have caused a stir like Twilight. Adapted from the first in a series written by Stephanie Meyer, the teen romance hits US multiplexes today and true to the magic of cinema it is expected that the book’s sales will be given a boost by the big screen.

In the US, Twilight is an established phenomenon with the four books in the series sitting pretty atop the bestseller lists but the publishers Little Brown Books are hoping to expand their readership. “I think it [the film] will definitely bring a bigger audience,” says Elizabeth Eulberg, publicist for the Twilight series. “We just hope the people who haven’t read the books who see the movie will read them.”

Sounds sensible. If you liked the film, it stands to reason that you’d want to explore its literary roots. However the relationship between the worlds of literature and movies is notoriously fraught. For every cross-over success, applauded by fans from both camps like The Lord of the Rings there is a disappointment like The Golden Compass. It’s a hard balance to bring to life the celebrated fiction, both attracting new audiences and without upsetting purists. Can Twilight achieve it? Let’s hope so as with the film rights to the follow-up books New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn having been signed up, we could have plenty more trips to see Bella and Edward.

[via Reuters]