Success of Twilight films leads to boom in sales of fantasy novels

The success of fantasy films such as Twilight has led to a surge in the popularity of science fiction and fantasy novels among older children and teenagers, new research has found.
By Patrick Sawer and Robert Mendick
Published: The Telegraph, 31 Jan 2010

The 2008 film Twilight, which was released on DVD in Britain last April, was based on the series of vampire romance novels of the same name by the American author Stephanie Myers

It was followed by the release of the second film in the Twilight Saga, New Moon, in November, with a graphic novel due out in March.

Researchers at Mintel found that almost one in three older children and teenagers enjoy sci-fi/fantasy books, up from 18 per cent in 2005. Overall, over one in ten readers go on to read a title after seeing the film or TV version.

Other writers whose sales have increased on the back of the popularity of Twilight include Neil Gaiman, an English fantasy writer whose work includes The Sandman graphic novel. His novel Stardust was turned into a film starring Robert De Niro, Claire Daines and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Pat Neviani- Aston, Senior Leisure Analyst at Mintel, said: "The popularity of Twilight fiction shows just how closely books, TV and film are linked. Different media feed off each other and – while books provide the inspiration for many or most films – overall book sales also benefit greatly from the relationship, even if few achieve the levels reached by the Harry Potter series.

"However, Meyer's Twilight series must be approaching that level of success among teens, with reported total sales to date approaching 5 million, two titles among the UK's top 50 best-sellers in 2008 and more in 2009. The release of the second film, New Moon, in November will have contributed further to the phenomenon, which is also drawing in adult women."
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