Movie adaptations make the books more popular
Critically acclaimed movie adaptations usually bring attention to the book that inspired it, and already best-selling books will benefit from a movie production through sales.
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The Argument
Movies are generally easier to consume. Hence more people can or are more willing to access them; it takes hours or days to read a book, but only two hours to watch a movie.
Creating movie adaptations brings more attention to the book itself. By obtaining new audiences in the film sector, the book gets good publicity. People who enjoyed the movie may consider purchasing the book to find out more about the story and characters. Additionally, people who have seen trailers for the movie may want to read the book before they see the movie, which also contributes to more book sales.
While not a universal rule, there is absolutely a correlation between movie adaptations being released and increases in book sales. For instance, the book "The Help" came out in 2009 and the book "Room" came out in 2010. Yet, sales for these books skyrocketed in 2011, when movie adaptations of both books were released in theaters. These two books were actually #4 and #5 on a list of Top Ten Best Selling books of 2011 in the UK, which is due primarily to their highly successful movie adaptations.[1]
Counter arguments
Not all movie adaptations are well-received. A movie adaptation that receives negative reviews could create negative associations with the book as well. Someone who sees a movie adaptation and hates it is less likely to read the book than someone who does not already have that negative association with the book.
Another counter argument is that many people who see a movie adaptation are not interested in reading the book because the plot has already been "spoiled" by the movie. Generally, movie adaptations are faithful to the plots of the books they are based on. Even if there are some differences, major plot points and twists are often kept the same. Someone who watched the movie adaptation and already knows the ending of the book may not be interested in reading the book, since they already know what will happen. Thus, movie adaptations do not necessarily make the book more popular.
Premises
[P1] Movies are easier to consume than books.
[P2] Therefore, more people will consume them.
[P3] This brings positive publicity to the source books and will translate to sales.