While ticket prices rise and fewer people visit the cinema, one thing rings true: book-to-film adaptations do better at the box office. A 2018 study found that film adaptations of books earn 53% more than original screenplays worldwide. RMIT associate professor in cinema studies, Stephen Gaunson, told Azzet that Australian book-to-film adaptations typically make 20% to 30% more at the box office. Despite this, the Australian adaptation industry is still in its infancy, with attitudes towards them only changing locally in recent years.Why adapt books?Gaunson says studios opt for adaptations because they have a built-in audience. “If audiences read the book and they think it looks pretty good, they're probably more likely to actually go out and see the film,” he says. An example of an Australian-based film that Gaunson says benefited from the name of the book was The Dressmaker (2015). He says marketing the film alongside the book gave it more success, with the film becoming the biggest grossing Australian film in 2015-16 with a box office gross of A$20,271,661. “The Dressmaker was very much an event film,” Gaunson says. “If you look at the advertising at the time, there were cinemas that were really promoting i