58x, 112x, 1000x Sales Surges... "Screensellers" Reviving Old Books

"Odyssey" Breathes New Life into the Classics,
"The Classic" Becomes a Must-Have for Millennials and Gen Z

"Project Hail Mary" Sales Soar 58-Fold, "Danjong Aesa" Jumps 1,000 Times

Beyond Resurgent Originals: Classics, Scripts, and Screenplays...
How Screen IPs Are Extending the Lifespan of Books

A story nearly 3,000 years old has returned to the center stage of bookstores. This is Homer’s epic poem, "The Odyssey." Following the release of director Christopher Nolan’s film "Odyssey" on August 5, even the classic original entered the upper echelons of bestseller lists. The phenomenon of "screensellers," where successful video content revives aging books, is establishing itself as a new formula for success in the publishing market.

According to the publishing industry as of August 11, this year has seen a surge in instances where books published several years or even decades ago are climbing back to bestseller status thanks to the popularity of movies and online video services (OTT). In the past, increased sales were largely limited to the original novels adapted for film, but recently, demand has been expanding to works over a century old, classics, translated and commentary editions, and even script collections.

For the first week of August, "Odyssey" from Hyundae Jiseong ranked third on Yes24’s overall bestseller list, with sales up 365.5% compared to the previous week. At Kyobo Bookstore, books with "Odyssey" or "The Odyssey" in their titles saw sales jump year-on-year by 52.9% in March, 87.5% in April, 194.0% in May, 291.7% in June, and then 595.5% in July. The most-sold related title at Kyobo Bookstore this year was also "Odyssey" from Hyundae Jiseong, and the demand has spread to complete translations, introductory texts, and original translation editions.

This year, the publishing market is particularly showing a trend where older publications are revived through video content. Andy Weir’s "Project Hail Mary" saw its sales spike 5,731.7% year-on-year after the film of the same name was released, making it the number one bestseller in the first half of the year at Yes24. At Kyobo Bookstore, it climbed nine spots to 16th overall in the first week of March ahead of its film release, and later topped overall sales for the first half of the year. Park Min-gyu’s 2009 novel, "Pavane for a Dead Princess," experienced around a 112-fold increase in sales after the release of a Netflix adaptation and rose to fifth place overall at Kyobo Bookstore. Following the success of the movie "The King and His Man," sales of Lee Kwang-soo’s century-old novel "Danjong Aesa" grew roughly 1,000 times and entered 17th place among Korean novels at Kyobo Bookstore.

Whereas the "screenseller" trend used to center on popular movie or drama originals, recently, the "age" of a book has become almost irrelevant. Books that had been pushed off bookstore shelves long ago are now performing like new releases when paired with films and OTT content. Video content, in essence, is restarting the life cycle of book sales.

Following the success of movies and OTT platforms, previously published works are once again rising as bestsellers. Sales of "Project Hail Mary" increased by 57.3 times compared to the same period last year, "Pavane for a Dead Princess" surged approximately 112 times, and "The Tragic Story of Danjong" grew about 1000 times.

At Kyobo Bookstore, the number of novels sold in the first half of this year increased by 19.3% compared to the same period last year, marking double-digit growth for two consecutive years. Novels took a 10.6% share of total single-volume book sales. Between January and May, novels accounted for eight out of the top ten overall bestsellers and thirty out of the top one hundred. Kyobo Bookstore analyzed that the strong performance of novels is also due to rising demand for deeply immersive storytelling—partly a reaction to short, rapid video consumption—alongside the trend of "text hipness" among younger generations.

In particular, there is a noticeable rediscovery of classics via video content. In Kyobo Bookstore’s bestseller list for foreign novels in the first half of the year, 12 volumes from the world classics series—including "Siddhartha"—were in the top 30. Yes24 also reported that overseas novel sales for the first half surged 25.9% year-on-year, with 31 of the top 50 titles published prior to the year 2000. Purchases by customers in their 20s and 30s increased by 29.7% and 33.0%, respectively, clearly showing that older works are being discovered by a new generation of readers.

The scope of the "screenseller" phenomenon is also broadening. Whereas demand once focused on a single adapted original, purchases now extend to translated editions, commentary books, scripts, and screenplays. "The Odyssey" as well is drawing readers not only with existing translations but also with new translations and commentary volumes. On August 19, the official script book for the film "Odyssey" is also scheduled to be released. Kyobo Bookstore expects interest in related publishing content to rise even further following the movie’s premiere.

The growth of the market for scripts and screenplay collections is part of the same trend. Beyond reading the original works, the fandom demand for owning books of memorable video content is helping expand the market. Kyobo Bookstore noted that the publication of drama and movie scripts is becoming more active with hits, and attributed this to strong fandom demand to own their favorite works.

Ahead of the release of the movie "Odyssey," sales of related books have surged sharply. According to Kyobo Bookstore, the increase rate compared to the same month last year soared from 87.5% in April to 595.5% in July. Interest has expanded due to the complete translated editions and commentary books.

Director Kwak Jae-yong’s film "The Classic," released in 2003, has returned to readers after 23 years as a script book. "The Classic Script Book" ranked 15th overall on Yes24’s bestseller list last week and first in the arts category. In pre-release reader crowdfunding, it achieved 869% of its target, raising over 10 million won.

Enthusiastic support from younger readers is also noteworthy. Among buyers of "The Classic Script Book," 30.9% were in their 30s and 28.2% in their 20s, making up a combined 59.1% for those in their 20s and 30s. The script book for the hit drama "Everyone Is Fighting Their Worthlessness" debuted at seventh place overall at Kyobo Bookstore for the first week of August. The buyer demographics were 28.4% in their 40s, 27.8% in their 30s, and 20.7% in their 20s, with women accounting for a whopping 70.9%. Script and screenplay collections are expanding their territory as "collectible content" for readers who want to keep their favorite scenes and lines.

While the "screenseller" phenomenon itself is not new, the temporal range of books revived by video content has expanded greatly in recent years. Not only novels published years ago but also works from a century or nearly 3,000 years ago are returning to bestseller displays. Conversely, films released long ago are also being reborn as script books, reaching new generations of readers through this reverse-flow consumption.

A publishing industry official commented, "Stories that remain beloved over time continue to be rediscovered through various media such as movies, OTT, and YouTube, leading to long-term successes, which has become a core formula in the publishing market. It has also become more prominent that previously published works are climbing back to the top ranks of bestseller lists after gaining renewed attention from media exposure, such as film adaptations or celebrity recommendations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.