Literary adaptations are increasingly appealing to French filmmakers these days, writes Elsa Keslassy, an international correspondent for Variety. She cites Unifrance, an organization that promotes French films, which recently found that one out of every five French movies is based on a book.

Keslassy didn’t mention any specific reasons for the spike in popularity, except that literary adaptations are “tried-and-test[ed] material.”

Because of the rise in literary adaptations, many French producers are scouting for book rights, as in the US, said Francois Samuelson, a literary agent, at a recent roundtable hosted by Unifrance during its annual Rendez-Vous event. “Deals are done differently in France, however, due to the fact that authors here have a bigger status than American ones,” he added.

Furthermore, publishing houses are also taking a more proactive approach by suggesting book adaptations to film producers, said Variety editor Paul Otchakovski-Laurens.

Several literary adaptations will hit the big screen in France in 2015, including Mark Osborne’s animated feature, The Little Prince, and Suite Francaise, a romance drama set in World War II, starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Matthias Schoenaerts.

Which films do you think are the best literary adaptations? Check out The Guardian’s list of fifty favorites.