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Gina Prince-Bythewood has had an impressive career. After breaking out with character pieces like Love & Basketball and The Secret Life of Bees, Prince-Bythewood has become a major action director thanks to her hit Netflix film The Old Guardand the critically acclaimed The Woman King. Prince-Bythewood is set to helm her biggest project yet, an adaptation of the critically acclaimed and best-selling YA series, Children of Blood and Bone.
Essence has released the first images of Children of Blood and Bone. The movie features an all-star cast that includes Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King), Tosin Cole (Doctor Who), Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give), Damson Idris (F1), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Backrooms), Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk), Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel), Viola Davis (The Suicide Squad), and Idris Elba (Beast of No Nation). See the images below:
Children of Blood and Bone is an adaptation of the 2018 novel of the same name by author Tomi Adeyemi. The story centers on the heroine Zélie Adebola (Mbedu in the film) as she attempts to restore magic to the kingdom of Orïsha while overthrowing a king who has kept magic out of the people's hands. It is the first part in Adeyemi's Legacy of Orïsha trilogy.
Children of Blood and Bone was originally optioned by 20th Century Fox in 2018, with Rick Famuyiwa attached to direct. Then, when Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and later renamed it 20th Century Studios, Children of Blood and Bone was put into development at Lucasfilm as the studio's first non-legacy title, and was formally announced in 2020. Yet by fall 2021, the movie was put into turnaround after disagreements between author Tomi Adeyemi and Lucasfilm. Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to the project in 2022, with Gina Prince-Bythewood signing on to direct in December 2023. As Prince-Bythewood tells Essence, she had been offered the directing job twice before officially signing on.
However, Children of Blood and Bone now faces some behind-the-scenes conflict. On Jul. 5, author Tomi Adeyemi revealed she would be distancing herself from the adaptation and said, "I do not mind anyone going to watch the film. I wrote this for us. I fought for us. I’m just laying down my sword and officially separating my name because I can’t keep being hurt and attacked behind the scenes." While not confirmed, it seems to stem from a conflict between Adeyemi and star Amandla Stenberg, who plays Princess Amari in the film adaptation.
In February 2025, Stenberg released a now-deleted TikTok in which she responded to colorism surrounding her casting and said she had support from Adeyemi. The writer later sent Stenberg a message that said, "Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me. Do not call me.” Prince-Bythwood spoke highly about working with Adeyemi on the script for Children of Blood and Bone, telling Essence:
"This is my fourth adaptation, and my approach to it is foremost: I want the author to love what we do. We're all here because of what came out of their brain. And so in collaborating with her, it started with the script, and she had written the first draft, and then I came aboard and took over the draft and wrote my vision. And it's always funny, every single time I do it, it's always the scariest person to show the script to the author. But as it has been in the past, she loved it. And then from that point on, I really brought her into the process I think more than I actually have in the past. And just because it was exciting to be able to have this experience, it's a miracle to get any film made, but to get this film made is an absolute true miracle.
"There was just such excitement from her about everything. It was fun to share. And that's getting her thoughts on casting and sharing the production design and the costume and the fights, just everything she loved. And I wanted her to be excited by every element and to be able to have that beautiful collaboration. It meant a lot to me."
