Book to movie adaptations are becoming increasingly popular and successful.

12 of the top 20 highest grossing films worldwide were adapted from literature.

Eight of these come from novels and their sequels, while four come from comic book series.

The success of these films is largely due to an already well-established fan base from the book or comic series. With successful marketing, the audience is likely to expand.

However, these marketing campaigns generate interest for the original books as well as the film releases.

Collins Booksellers store owner, Joe Sofra, tells upstart that film advertising is feeding revenue back into stores as people rush to read a book before its adaptation hits cinemas.

“In most cases there’s an increase in sales because the advertising for the movie generates interest in the book as well,” he says.

Sofra says that interest in the original book continues to grow once the film has been released.

“Some people come in after they’ve seen the movie because they want to find out the original story or re-read the book.”

Self-proclaimed bookworm, Lauren De Lacovo, tells upstart that she prefers to read books before their film adaptation is released to get an understanding of the story before changes are made.

“I like seeing the story told how it was intended to be told by the original author first, and there’s often a lot more depth to the story that you can get from the book as opposed to the movie,” she says.

Despite growing interest, film adaptations aren’t always met with positive feedback.

Nicholas Sparks’ 2013 novel, The Longest Ride, received a 4.1 out of 5 Goodreads rating, while the movie adaptation received a Rotten Tomatoes critic rating of 4.3 out of 10 (2.15 out of 5).

De Lacovo says that while criticism is inevitable, she is always excited to how film companies choose to recreate her favourite books.

“Personally I enjoy seeing books adapted into movies because it’s another way to enjoy the story and I myself am a fan of film,” she says.

“However, it’s hard not to compare the two and get a bit let down if favourite scenes or details from the books are left out of the movie, which inevitably happens.”

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This year alone, the film market has seen the release of another Jurassic Park adaptation, a second John Green novel adaptation, the Divergent sequel and also the release of the final instalment of The Hunger Games.

With audiences always wanting more, it’s no wonder production companies continue to announce book to film adaptations.

De Lacovo says as long as there’s interest in a book, people will continue to visit cinemas to see the story play out.

“If I’ve enjoyed the book or at least the premise of the book, I like to see how the story has been adapted to film,” she says.

Taylah Burrows is a final year Bachelor of Journalism student, you can follow her on Twitter: @TaylahBurrows.