Gina Prince-Bythewood brings ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ to Martha’s Vineyard with new look at Orïsha
TheGrio...
The director and Thuso Mbedu shared never-before-seen footage and revealed how Black talent, African landscapes and music helped bring the fantasy epic to life.
Gina Prince-Bythewood is giving audiences a deeper look at how she brought the sprawling, magical world of “Children of Blood and Bone” from the page to the big screen.
Prince-Bythewood and the film’s star, Thuso Mbedu, appeared at the 24th annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival for a special clips-and-conversation event moderated by “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin. The Aug. 7 presentation included never-before-seen footage from the highly anticipated adaptation of Nigerian American author Tomi Adeyemi’s bestselling 2018 novel.
For Prince-Bythewood, whose credits include “The Woman King,” “Love & Basketball” and “The Old Guard,” creating the fictional kingdom of Orïsha meant building a fantasy world that felt expansive while remaining rooted in Black and African cultures.
“Everything was in those pages,” Prince-Bythewood said of Adeyemi’s novel, according to Forbes.
She also called Adeyemi “a genius,” praising the book and the characters at the center of its story.
“Children of Blood and Bone” follows Zélie Adebola, played by Mbedu, as she fights to restore magic to Orïsha after it was violently taken from her people. She joins forces with her brother, Tzain, played by Tosin Cole, as well as Princess Amari and Prince Inan, played by Amandla Stenberg and Damson Idris.
The cast is stacked with Black talent. Viola Davis, Regina King, Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lashana Lynch are among the stars filling out the world of Orïsha.
Prince-Bythewood told the festival audience that casting was particularly important because movies of this scale centered on Black characters remain relatively rare.
“There are no skips,” she said of the ensemble. “Everybody is amazing.”
Mbedu, who previously worked with Prince-Bythewood on “The Woman King,” began preparing to play Zélie roughly a year before production. The South African actress said she repeatedly returned to Adeyemi’s novel while developing the character, comparing the source material with the screenplay.
“I leaned into the source material a lot,” Mbedu said. “I don’t know how many times I read and reread the book, putting it next to the screenplay.”
The production also assembled Black talent behind the camera.
Oscar-winning “Black Panther” production designer Hannah Beachler helped create Orïsha’s visual identity. Costume designer Charlese Antoinette Jones brought her knowledge of color and spiritual traditions to the production, while hair department head Andrea Mona Bowman spent months developing Zélie’s look.
Music was another important part of building the film’s identity. Prince-Bythewood said Tems’ “Try Me” was among the songs she listened to while writing the movie. Tems later joined the project as an executive producer of the soundtrack, while Burna Boy became an executive music consultant.
The production also took Prince-Bythewood and her cast to Africa. Rather than relying entirely on green screens to create the fantasy world, the filmmaker said she wanted to use real locations, with filming taking place in South Africa and Nigeria.
Prince-Bythewood’s praise of Adeyemi comes amid a complicated public chapter for the film.
As theGrio previously reported, Adeyemi has distanced herself from the adaptation and said she does not plan to watch or promote it. In an emotional video shared in July, the author described her experience with the production as painful and recalled leaving the set in tears.
“I never want to hear about it again,” Adeyemi said of the movie.
Adeyemi, who is credited as a co-screenwriter and executive producer, has not publicly explained every detail behind her decision to separate herself from the film. She has, however, stressed that her feelings about the production should not determine whether readers who have supported her work choose to see it.
TheGrio has also reported on a subsequent account examining the years-long road to getting “Children of Blood and Bone” to theaters and the reported behind-the-scenes tensions that preceded Adeyemi’s public comments.
Against that backdrop, Prince-Bythewood’s remarks at Martha’s Vineyard stand out. While discussing the film’s creative foundation, she repeatedly credited Adeyemi’s original work for providing the characters, culture and emotional stakes that helped shape what audiences will eventually see onscreen.
Meanwhile, Paramount’s rollout of the movie is moving forward.
The first trailer, released in July, offered audiences their most extensive look yet at Mbedu as Zélie and the fantasy world surrounding her. As theGrio previously reported, the preview featured the film’s massive ensemble cast and gave viewers an early look at how the production translated the world of Orïsha to the screen.
For Prince-Bythewood, the ultimate goal is for audiences to experience that world emotionally as much as visually.
“You’re going to feel every human emotion in this,” she said, adding that she expects viewers to get angry, laugh, cry, dance and cheer before ultimately leaving with a sense of hope.
For a big-budget fantasy centered on a young Black woman, populated by a predominantly Black cast and drawing heavily from African cultures, the scale alone makes “Children of Blood and Bone” an unusual Hollywood undertaking.
Now, with Adeyemi publicly separated from the adaptation and Prince-Bythewood continuing to credit the author’s work as its foundation, audiences will soon have the opportunity to see the finished product for themselves.
“Children of Blood and Bone” is scheduled to arrive exclusively in theaters, including IMAX, Dolby Cinema and other premium formats, on Jan. 15, 2027.