Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Children of Blood and Bone is now nine weeks from release, and it arrives as a 146-minute fantasy epic. Paramount Pictures has the adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s bestselling novel dated for January 15, 2027 in the United States, with IMAX screenings included.
That running time works out to 2 hours and 26 minutes, longer than many recent studio fantasies, and it lands nearly a decade after the book was first optioned for the screen in March 2017, a year before the novel was even on shelves.
Who is behind the camera
Prince-Bythewood, who co-wrote the screenplay with Adeyemi, brings back several collaborators. Terilyn A. Shropshire edited the film, Polly Morgan shot it, and jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard wrote the score. Temple Hill, Sunswept Entertainment and Jackson Pictures produced.
The source material has a large built-in audience. Adeyemi was 23 when the trilogy sold in one of the biggest young adult debut deals of its time, and the book went through 45 drafts over 18 months. Its 18-hour audiobook, read by Bahni Turpin, won the 2019 Audie Award for audiobook of the year.
A cast stacked from top to bottom
South African actor Thuso Mbedu leads as Zélie, the young woman trying to bring magic back to the kingdom of Orïsha. Around her, the studio has gathered one of the deepest ensembles of the coming winter:
- Damson Idris as Prince Inan and Amandla Stenberg as Princess Amari
- Tosin Cole as Zélie’s brother Tzain
- Chiwetel Ejiofor as the tyrant King Saran and Regina King as Queen Nehanda
- Cynthia Erivo as Admiral Kaea and Lashana Lynch as Jumoke
- Idris Elba as the priest Lekan and Viola Davis as Mama Agba
Nigerian singer Ayra Starr, Saniyya Sidney, Bukky Bakray and Richard Mofe-Damijo are also in the cast. Two of those names carry a neat backstory: Adeyemi once said her dream casting would put Idris Elba in the role of Saran and Viola Davis as Mama Agba. Davis got her wish of a part; Elba ended up playing Lekan instead.
From Fox to Lucasfilm to Paramount
The film’s route to theaters is a small history of modern Hollywood. Here is the timeline:
March 2017: Fox 2000 and Temple Hill option the novel before publication.
March 6, 2018: the book is published and debuts at number one on the young adult bestseller list.
February 2019: Rick Famuyiwa is announced as director.
2019: Disney’s purchase of 21st Century Fox shuts Fox 2000, and the project moves to Lucasfilm, its first original live-action film since Disney bought the studio in 2012.
Late 2021: Lucasfilm lets the rights lapse as it focuses on its own franchises.
January 2022: Paramount picks up the film with a promised exclusive theatrical release.
December 2023: Prince-Bythewood is hired to direct and rework the script with Adeyemi.
February to June 2, 2025: cameras roll in Lagos, Nigeria.
Shooting in Lagos matters. The novel’s world is modeled on an alternate, precolonial West Africa, and Adeyemi built Orïsha from Yoruba culture and language, with her Nigerian mother helping to name the spells.
Erivo has another big screen project lined up as well; Badiyaa reported that Cynthia Erivo will play Afeni Shakur in the Snoop Dogg biopic. More upcoming releases are on our Entertainment page.
Children of Blood and Bone opens in US theaters and IMAX on Friday, January 15, 2027.
Further reading
Image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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