When it comes to reading, I usually go for romance or fiction, but sometimes I like to dabble in sci-fi. Although I was never really on board with it. That was until I read the series Children of Blood and Bone, written by Tomi Adeyemi. That series got me back into the genre and expanded my imagination. So, my excitement was through the roof when it was announced that the first book in the series, Children of Blood and Bone, would be getting a film adaptation set to release on Jan. 15, 2027. I was so excited to see what they would do with the setting, how much of the story they would incorporate, and more. After seeing the official trailer, my excitement is still there, but I do have doubts about how the film will turn out. However, that’s not what this article will be discussing. Recently, there have been reports that Adeyemi and Amandla Stenberg, who is in the cast of this movie, had lots of tension before filming began.
Let’s start from the beginning: The film was announced in March 2018 by Fox 2000 Pictures, which acquired the rights to it. However, in December 2020, when Disney bought Fox, a new partnership with Lucasfilm, which is known for Star Wars, was announced. So, Fox and Lucasfilm would have co-produced the movie. Then, in January 2022, a massive bidding war broke out for the movie rights after Lucasfilm’s rights expired. So, Paramount won the rights and officially announced it would adapt the entire trilogy for a theatrical release. Then, in December 2023, it was announced that Gina Prince-Bythewood, known for directing The Woman King, would direct the movie. Not only that, but she would also be the co-writer for the script, next to Adeyemi. Adeyemi praised working with Prince-Bythewood in an interview with Elle, saying, “What Gina does is tell these deep, complex stories of women who look like us front and center, with incredible action set pieces, incredible cinematography. It feels divine. It is bigger than just making this project. We’re really in sync.” From the way Adeyemi was praising Prince-Bythewood, it seemed this partnership would be locked in down the line for the adaptation of the trilogy.
However, the controversy began when the principal cast was announced. On Jan. 22, 2025, our cast included Viola Davis, Regina King, Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Thuso Mbedu, and more. However, the main criticism was the casting of Amandla Stenberg. Many readers called out colorism due to the casting of Stenberg because her character in the novel is described as having “dark copper skin.”As someone who has read the series, I won’t lie, I too was a bit shocked that Stenberg was the choice for the character she will be portraying. A tiny bit of spoilers from the novel here, but there is a moment in the novel where the mother of Stenberg’s character does suggest that Stenberg’s character should bleach her skin so that she can fit in with the rest of her family, because her skin is darker. This isn’t the first time Stenberg has been called out for this, as she received similar backlash when she was cast in the movie The Hate U Give. The backlash got to a point where Stenberg herself posted a video on TikTok saying, “I had the opportunity to meet Tomi, the novelist, for the first time … And she goes, ‘Amandla, I want you to know that when you were a little girl and you were cast as Rue in The Hunger Games, and 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.” Adeyemi also stated before a film adaptation was announced that when she was writing Stenberg’s character, she imagined someone like Zendaya playing the role. When again, this would be a problem because the character Adeyemi wrote about is described as having “dark copper skin.” Then, in June 2025, Adeyemi went on a podcast and defended the casting choices. Audiences were also frustrated due to the fact that Adeyemi stated that this movie was going to have an open call, meaning that she wanted new faces for the movie, and this was something very important to her. However, when the cast was announced, all of the actors were big-name stars that we already know and who we have seen thousands of times. Even though Adeyemi told us herself that we were going to have new faces.
After five months of filming, from February to June 2025, audiences were still excited about this movie. From some cast members praising how fun filming has been, to Adeyemi herself posting how happy she is about the process. She even posted a photo of herself on set showing that she would have a cameo. However, that excitement took a left turn on July 4, when Adeyemi posted a TikTok stating that she will be distancing herself from the movie. She shared a screenshot of a conversation between her and Stenberg, indicating that a falling out had occurred between the two. In the screenshot, Adeyemi had seemingly blocked Stenberg, with the last message saying, “Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me. Do not call me.” It was also shown that this last message was sent to Stenberg in February 2025, right as filming began, but, when going back through the timeline, Adeyemi was defending the casting choices when the cast was announced in January 2025. This had audiences a bit confused as to when the falling out started and how it began, since Adeyemi was publicly defending Stenberg. Then, on July 27, the official trailer for the movie was released, with a diverse reaction, with some audiences being excited, while others were going in with few expectations. Then, about two days later, on July 29, Adeyemi posted another video on Instagram saying, “The process of making this film is the worst thing I’ve ever lived through.” While she didn’t go into full detail as to what happened, she does say that she had experienced pain and several panic attacks while filming which prompted her to leave the set. She also states that she is still being antagonized behind the scenes. She wrapped the video up by saying, “I knew it was so bad that I would never ever be able to watch this film, and I made peace with that.” Even though marketing for this film has started to be teased, not a lot of mention of Adeyemi has been shown.
Overall, the tension between Adeyemi and the process of making this movie is something that audiences, including myself, have been scratching their heads about. While I do feel sympathy for Adeyemi, I can’t help but also wonder how and why this fallout began, especially when right after the cast was announced, she was defending the casting choices. Personally, I will still see this movie because not only do I enjoy the series, but I am happy that a story centering a Black cast with sci-fi elements is coming to the big screen. It’s something we don’t get to see very often, and finally seeing a story like that inspires me and reminds me why I want to become an actress. Hopefully, this tension will be resolved, but from the content that has been posted about it, I don’t think that’ll happen anytime soon.