Children of Blood and Bone

Cast

Thuso Mbedu as Zélie

Damson Idris as Prince Inan

Amandla Stenberg as Princess Amari

Tosin Cole as Tzain

Cynthia Erivo as Admiral Kaea

Lashana Lynch as Jumoke

Zackary Momoh as Adetayo

Richard Mofe-Damijo

Chiwetel Ejiofor as King Saran

Regina King as Queen Nehanda

Idris Elba as Lekan

Viola Davis as Mama Agba

Saniyya Sidney

Diaana Babnicova as Folake

Bukky Bakray as Binta

Ayra Starr

Shamz Garuba

Kola Bodunde

Pamilerin Ayodeji

Temi Fagbenle

Production

Development

Prior to publication, Tomi Adeyemi's novel Children of Blood and Bone was optioned for a film adaptation produced by Fox 2000 Pictures and Temple Hill Entertainment in March 2017. In February 2019, Rick Famuyiwa was announced as the director.

After the Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox in March 2019, which resulted in shuttering Fox 2000, the project was transferred to Lucasfilm, marking the studio's first original live-action project since its acquisition by Disney in 2012. Kay Oyegun was announced to write the script for the film in August 2019. In September 2019, while talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Walt Disney Studios president Alan Horn confirmed Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy was working with sister studio 20th Century Fox's chairwoman Emma Watts in developing the film. In the fourth quarter of 2021, however, Lucasfilm put the project in turnaround. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Adeyemi had become dissatisfied with the pace of Lucasfilm's adaptation efforts and asked to serve as scriptwriter, a request that Lucasfilm had declined. Since Lucasfilm had wanted to focus on its own intellectual properties like Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Willow, it allowed the film rights to Children of Blood and Bone to lapse.

By January 2022, Paramount Pictures had acquired the rights for a guaranteed exclusive theatrical release, with Temple Hill Entertainment producing alongside Sunswept Entertainment; Adeyemi would write the script and serve as executive producer. In December 2023, Gina Prince-Bythewood was hired to direct the film and further develop the script.

In July 2026, author Tomi Adeyemi disavowed the film adaptation, saying her involvement in the film project was "the worst thing I have ever had to live through."

Casting

In September 2024, Thuso Mbedu was cast in the lead role. In January 2025, Amandla Stenberg, Damson Idris, Tosin Cole, Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Lashana Lynch and Chiwetel Ejiofor were added to the cast, with Regina King, Diaana Babnicova and Bukky Bakray in negotiations to join. In March, Saniyya Sidney, Zackary Momoh, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Ayra Starr, Pamilerin Ayodeji, Shamz Garuba, Kola Bodunde, and Temi Fagbenle rounded out the cast.

The casting of Stenberg and Mbedu sparked online backlash over colorism, as they are lighter-skinned than the characters from the novel. In response to these criticisms, Stenberg posted an eight-minute TikTok video in February 2025, saying that Adeyemi wanted her in the role.

Filming

Principal photography began in Lagos in February 2025 and concluded on June 2, 2025.

Music

Terence Blanchard composed the score for the film.

Release

Children of Blood and Bone is scheduled to be released in the United States on January 15, 2027, including engagements in IMAX.

In July 2026, Adeyemi revealed that she had distanced herself from the adaptation for unspecified reasons and that she had blocked Stenberg on social media, adding that, although she did not mind people seeing the film, she would not watch it and could not continue "being hurt and attacked behind the scenes". In a subsequent video in the same month, although she did not elaborate further on the behind-the-scenes fallout, she stated that she left the film's set "hyperventilating and sobbing", with many witnesses present, and called the experience "the worst thing I have ever had to live through".