The Old Guard director will helm Children of Blood and Bone movie

Children of Blood and Bone is the first book in author Tomi Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha trilogy, a high fantasy series set in a magical world inspired by West African mythology. It follows a young woman named Zélie Adebola who is part of a class of oppressed magic users called magi. She sets out on a quest to restore magic to the land of Orïsha.

Children of Blood and Bone topped the New York Times bestseller list when it debuted in 2018. Its sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, followed suit. With that kind of success, Hollywood took notice. They’ve been trying to develop a movie version for some time, with Adeyemi on board to write the screenplay. Now, according to Deadline, the movie has found a director: Gina Prince-Bythewood, the woman behind films like The Old Guard and The Woman King.

The Old Guard was a surprise hit on Netflix when it debuted in 2020; it was an intense action movie with mythical themes, which isn’t the worst thing to have on your resume before tackling something like Children of Blood and Bone. Meanwhile, The Woman King won Prince-Bythewood plaudits aplenty when it bowed in 2022. She’s becoming a big mover and shaker in Hollywood.

As for the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy, it’s considered one of the hottest young adult properties since The Hunger Games, so it’s only likely to raise Prince-Bythewood’s profile further. Paramount won the rights to adapt the books in 2022 after a heated bidding war; apparently their blew everyone else out of the water. That offer included a guarantee that Children of Blood and Bone will get a theatrical release, which isn’t a given in an age where many movies release straight to streaming.

We don’t know when Children of Blood and Bone might drop into theaters. However, the third and final book in Adeyemi’s trilogy, Children of Anguish and Anarchy, is due out on June 25, 2024. That’s too soon for a duel release to be workable.

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