The "Children of Blood and Bone" Author Won't Watch the Upcoming Movie Adaptation

It’s not uncommon for authors to oppose adaptations of their work. Many do so publicly, like Stephen King’s decades-long grudge against Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. But it isn’t so common, or typically advised, for writers to lambast the movies or TV shows made from their books before they’ve been released. Tomi Adeyemi, the best-selling YA author of Children of Blood and Bone, however, wants to be clear on her stance.

Children of Blood and Bone is the first part of a YA fantasy trilogy inspired by Yoruba and West African culture. It takes place in a fictional African country not unlike pre-colonial Nigeria where people with magic have had their abilities turned off by the non-magical ruling class. The protagonist, Zélie Adebola, attempts to restore magic to the kingdom. It’s arguably one of the defining YA books of the past 15 years.

The film adaptation, directed by The Woman King’s Gina Prince-Bythewood, is scheduled to be released in January 2027. The cast includes Thuso Mbedu in the lead role, with a murderer’s row of Black talent supporting her: Damson Idris, Cynthia Erivo, Viola Davis, Regina King, Idris Elba, Lashana Lynch, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Adeyemi, however, will not be there for the premiere.

“There is a reason I will not post anything about the adaptation of my work. That’s all,” Adeyemi wrote in DMs she shared on TikTok. “I have not seen the film, and I will not watch it,” she said. “It’s been painful holding this back from you all.”

She also shared screenshots of a DM she sent to the film’s star, Amandla Stenberg. “Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me. Do not call me,” she wrote. This may be in reference to the controversy surrounding Stenberg’s casting as the protagonist, who is described in the book as a dark-skinned Black young woman. As she told Entertainment Weekly, “I had the opportunity to meet Tomi, the novelist, for the first time. Then, she goes, ‘Amandla, I want you to know that when you were a little girl and were cast as Rue in The Hunger Games, and you had these racist remarks thrown at you because people said that Rue’s death wouldn’t be as sad because you’re a Black girl — that inspired me to write this series, so that Black girls like you and Black girls of all shades could have a story written about them.’ We just started crying, and I said to myself, ‘God wants me here!’”

Is Adeyemi accusing Stenberg of lying? Or did she previously support Stenberg before changing her stance? It’s a heavy cloud to cast over a much-anticipated film.

The issue of colourism has been at the forefront of discussion of the film of Children of Blood and Bone, not just with Stenberg’s inclusion but that of Mbedu. It’s a defining part of the novels. The film industry isn’t exactly flush with opportunities for dark-skinned Black performers, and this was a rare one that many fans felt wasn’t doing the heavy lifting for its most prominent roles. As Susan Akyeampong put it for Refinery29, “Hollywood often treats Africa as a monolith, with little regard for cultural and historical details, and this casting I worry, fits that recurring trend.”

I’ve seen pretty aggressive pushback to both Stenberg and Adeyemi, which feels beside the point. Stenberg has received a lot of cruel racist abuse over the course of her career, dating back to the death threats she received as a literal child when she was cast as Rue in The Hunger Games. She is not the punching bag for this wider problem and institutional block in a highly monied industry. Adeyemi’s also entitled to her stance given that it’s her book on the chopping block. Both women are being set up to blame if Children of Blood and Bone isn’t a box office hit, with feels both very premature and kind of insidious. That January release date is, admittedly, not promising, and Paramount, the studio releasing it, is hardly at the forefront of progressive storytelling these days. Why should one film, one author, and one actress have to bear the weight of all that pressure when the entertainment business has shown no damn consideration for Black stories over the past few years, now that they’ve dropped all pretences of caring about inclusivity?