Studios are always looking for the next big franchise, and thanks in no small part to Game of Thrones, fantasy is very hot right now. When the YA novel Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi hit shelves in 2018, it was only a matter of time before some studio snapped it up. That studio was Fox, which was then bought by Disney, which owns another studio called Lucasfilm, which makes Star Wars movies. According to Deadline, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy took an interest in Children, and now, it may become the first movie Lucasfilm produces under Disney that isn’t related to Star Wars or Indiana Jones.
But first things first: what is Children of Blood and Bone about? We agree with The A.V. Club that it’s best to just post Deadline’s synopsis:
"Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. Everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for an enemy."
So the evil king killed magic and Zélie has to get it back while dodging “leoponaires.” Got it.
Anyway, This Is Us writer Kay Oyegun has been brought in to write the script for the movie with director Rick Famuyiwa. Children is actually the first book in a planned trilogy (because nothing ever just ends now), so if the movie adaptation is a hit, expect more to follow.
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Children of Blood and Bone is partially inspired by African mythology, among other things. In that way, it reminds me a little of Who Fears Death, an upcoming HBO series based on the novel of the same name by Nnedi Okorafor — that one is a sci-fi story about a post-apocalyptic version of Sudan; George R.R. Martin is an executive producer. As fantasy and sci-fi stories continue to be in vogue, it’s cool that we’re going to get some that approach the genre a bit differently, with a different store of references.
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