Gina Prince-Bythewood’s epic African-inspired fantasy, Children of Blood & Bone, was shown off at CinemaCon, and based on the description, it sounds like a film we definitely need to see.
Based on Tomi Adeyemi’s 2018 New York Times best-selling novel of the same name, it marks Bythewood’s first film since 2022’s The Woman King and is set in a fictional African kingdom inhabited by natives who can wield magic.
The Bythewood-directed film is set to hit theaters January 15, 2027, and will see Thuso Mbedu, who made her debut in The Woman King, in the lead role.
The First Trailer For Children of Blood & Bone Teases An Epic African Fantasy
Variety shared a breakdown of what was shown in the trailer that played at Cinemacon.
Per Variety:
The film stars Thuso Mbedu, who made her breakout film debut in “The Woman King,” as Zelie, a magic user who can command undead spirits. A trailer for the film, which played exclusively at CinemaCon, reveals Zelie’s homeland, the kingdom of Orisha, divided into various clans with distinct abilities. Some people can manipulate water, fire, wind and earth, while others can heal injuries or see into the past or future. However, the ruthless King Saran (Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor) has suppressed magic users and enacts a rule of terror, which Zelie hopes to end in order to reunite Orisha’s clans.
Children of Blood & Bone Boasts An All-Star Cast
The cast for this film is absolutely stacked, featuring Tosin Cole as Zelie’s brother Tzain, Amandla Stenberg as Princess Amari, and Damson Idris as Prince Inan, along with Lashana Lynch, Oscar-nominated Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, and Oscar-winning Viola Davis and Regina King.
At an event at the Paramount lot in Los Angeles before CinemaCon, Bythewood previewed footage from the film for tastemakers and spoke with ET’s Nischelle Turner about the importance of filming on location in Africa, rather than going the CG route.
“Absolutely, we were going to shoot there,” Prince-Bythewood told ET. “Then I wanted to give the cast a 360 world to play in. That meant building, rather than having a CG world. Costumes drawing inspiration from all over the continent. The action: no wires, no stunt doubles. It’s our cast doing the incredible fighting.”
We love to hear it.
Now we are patiently waiting to get our first glimpse of Children of Blood & Bone, because this movie sounds lit.
