Books Into Movies

Having enjoyed a thriving relationship with the film industry in recent years, children’s book publishing may not be so lucky in the future as it is feared that the economic downturn may well see Hollywood cutting back on the number of book-based films. According to The Bookseller “interest in big fantasy films is on the wane.” These were the major block busters of recent years. It is strongly predicted that film interest will return to the Shrek type movie which appeals to parents as well as children. Recent book- based films include Inkheart based on Cornelia Funke’s book by the same name and Twilight based on Stephanie Meyer’s international bestseller.

New releases to look out for are Coraline by Neil Gaiman, author of this December’s hugely popular Graveyard Book, and Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak in the Autumn of 2009. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell, are both due to launch in Spring 2010. In the world of teenage books, Louise Rennison was crowned the Book People’s first ever Queen of Teen in September 2008. The movie Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging was released in July 2008 based on the first two books in The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series which have so far sold 1.7 million copies.