The first trailer for the much-anticipated big screen adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi‘s bestselling novel Children of Blood and Bone has been revealed, and in it we get a proper look at the all-star cast in the Africa-set fantasy drama.
Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s film stars a veritable Who’s Who of Black British and American actors including Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Regina King, Damson Idris, Lashana Lynch, Amandla Stenberg, Tosin Cole, Viola Davis and the lead of the film, South African actress Thuso Mbedu.
Children of Blood and Bone is based on Nigerian-American writer Adeyemi’s 2018 debut novel, and the first book in her Legacy of Orïsha trilogy, which became a The New York Times bestseller. Set in an alternate history pre-colonial West Africa, the book follows the story of Zélie Adebola (Mbedu) as she attempts to restore magic to the kingdom of Orïsha, following brutal oppresion by the cruel and ruthless King Saran (Ejiofor).
In the clip, set to excerpts of Beyonce’s 2022 song “Energy,” we see Mbedu’s Zélie come-of-age to bring magic back to Orïsha, as she evades Saran’s forces. We also see lavish costumes, gorgeous location visuals and fights scenes very reminiscent of Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther films and Prince-Bythewood’s own critically-acclaimed 2022 historical action film The Woman King, which also starred Mbedu, Davis and Lynch.
Adeyemi co-wrote the screenplay with Prince-Bythewood but has recently distanced herself from the film adaptation. Earlier this month, Adeyemi took to social media to address why she wasn’t promoting the film version, revealing that she had distanced herself from the adaptation. In a TikTok video, Adeyemi included a screenshot of her message to unidentified recipients that read, “There is a reason I will not post anything about the adaptation of my work. That’s all.”
The video also included a screenshot of an apparent message that she sent to Stenberg, who plays Princess Amari in the movie. Adeyemi’s message read, “Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me. Do not call me.” The image suggested that Adeyemi had blocked the actress.
Children of Blood and Bone hits theaters on Jan. 15, 2027.