New ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ Trailer Brings the Magic

I’ll just be upfront and say that I have not read Children of Blood and Bone, and have mostly been familiar with the book, the first of Tomi Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha trilogy, for two reasons: my wife read and very much enjoyed it, and Adeyemi has distanced herself from the adaptation of her book, which is happening at Paramount after simmering at Lucasfilm for a few years. She was pretty public about her split, and it was the first we had heard about the adaptation for some time, until the trailer dropped today.

And hoo, what a trailer it is! It’s packed with action, color, beautiful settings, magic powers, and wonderfully designed costumes. The trailer also has a packed cast, featuring such talents as Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Regina King, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Lashana Lynch. It’s also a very exciting world to be dropped into, and the trailer certainly does just that. Everything feels developed and lived-in, and my wife said it quickly brought back more memories of the book than she expected.

This is the breakdown according to Deadline: “Set in the epic fantasy world of Orïsha, the story sees a young woman (Thuso Mbedu) embark on a quest to reclaim the magic that was violently stolen from her people. She and her brother ally with the daughter and son of the king (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to fight back against his brutal rule.” The film looks to kick off what will hopefully be a trilogy of films (though Hollywood loves to split one book into two movies) and be a bit of a franchise builder. Which begs the biggest question: why the January release?

January isn’t exactly the worst month to release movies, but it is up there. It’s usually more of a dumping ground for films that couldn’t hack it during Oscar season, or horror movies that are looking to make a few bucks. A franchise film dropped in January is usually not a good sign. Some films have tried to buck that trend, but it hasn’t really broken, save for some notable exceptions over the years.

I won’t rehash why Adeyemi distanced herself from the film, but when I heard that it would be released in January, it felt a bit like self-preservation. She could be trying to get out in front of something that won’t be that successful. But the trailer looks fun, and fans of the book seem pretty happy in the YouTube comments. Maybe this will be one of the films that bucks the trend, and the land of Orïsha will keep calling us back for years to come.