The movie, scheduled for release on January 15, 2027, is a fantasy romance film based on Adeyemi’s 2018 young adult novel.
Adeyemi announced the newest additions to the cast, including Ayra Starr, Richard Mofe-Damijo, and Pamilerin Ayodeji, among others, in a recent Instagram post.
The film boasts an impressive cast, with Thuso Mbedu, Amandla Stenberg, and Damson Idris joining the project in January 2025.
“Children of Blood and Bone” tells the story of Zélie Adebola’s quest to restore magic to the kingdom of Orïsha after the ruling class brutally suppresses the class of magic practitioners she belongs to. The novel, which landed on the New York Times bestseller list in 2018, has been adapted into an American fantasy movie after Adeyemi secured a seven-figure deal with Fox Studios.
Filming began in South Africa in February, with Paramount Pictures set to release the film in the United States. The movie’s director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, had sent out a casting call in November 2024 for male and female actors between the ages of 10 and mid-20s living in Nigeria.
Adeyemi, an English literature graduate of Harvard University, is also a creative writing coach based in San Diego. Her novel has gained widespread recognition, and the film adaptation is highly anticipated.
