Tomi Adeyemi Denounces 'Children of Blood and Bone' Film

It was all good just a week ago — well, two or three years to be exact.

Back in March while selecting Hollywood actors and actresses who we think will be making an imprint on the industry in 2026 and beyond, one of the common links between many of the rising stars on both lists was their appearance in the upcoming fantasy film, Children of Blood and Bone. In addition to universal excitement in seeing the popular book series by author Tomi Adeyemi come to life on the big screen, the loaded cast including Amandla Stenberg, Damson Idris, Cynthia Erivo, Viola Davis, Idris Elba and even pop star Ayra Starr, made it seem like a can’t-miss opportunity towards something epic.

However, it appears all is apparently not well ahead of its January 2027 theatrical release now that Adeyemi herself has denounced the adaptation of her work in a now-viral TikTok post.

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Of the screengrabbed conversations Adeyemi shares in the short clip seen above, her alluding to blocking lead star Amandla Stenberg really seemed to seal the deal, particularly in the note attached that scathingly reads, “Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me. Do not call me.”

The February 28, 2025 date of that message is important to note, especially being that it aligns with a video the actress posted on her own TikTok less than a week earlier in response to backlash she got due to a perceived reputation of consistently stealing roles from darker-skinned actresses. For, Children of Blood and Bone specifically, she says Adeyemi told her during their initial meeting, “Amandla, I want you to know that when you were a little girl and were cast as Rue in ‘The Hunger Games,’ and you had these racist remarks thrown at you because 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.”

While casting might’ve caused the most recent rift, it appears movements behind the scenes have been shifty for some time now. Film rights date back to 2017 before the first book was even published, with the now-defunct Fox 2000 originally at the helm. Company mergers and lapsed rights shifted the project over the years from Lucasfilm to Paramount, the latter giving Adeyemi a lucrative co-writing clause alongside director Gina Prince-Bythewood and creative approval. However, the 2025 merger between Paramount and Skydance reportedly put many of those promises into question, and could very well be the catalyst to Adeyemi distancing herself altogether.

We can only hope for a resolution sooner rather than later, especially with such high hopes for The Legacy of Orïsha Trilogy overall.

Keep scrolling to see how fans are responding on social media to the division between the author of Children of Blood and Bone and its film adaptation:

1. not after defending the casting choice is she saying she will not watch the children of blood and bone movie or support it!

via @chaoticblkgirl

2. When the actual creator of the world refuses to even watch the movie, you know Hollywood did what Hollywood does best, ignored the source material completely.

via @PaulFirstOfHis

3. Someone needs to put together a timeline of Children of Blood and Bone because I’m a little confused on how Tomi and Amandla ended up falling out. I feel like when Amandla was cast Tomi supported her and wanted her for the role.

via @jasimisinclair

4. Anyway.

Amandla Stenberg is always at the scene of the crime.

Children of Blood and Bone is not perfect and has many cultural missteps.

Tomi Adeyemi is weird af.

We should have gotten an animated series or film instead.

via @kabrieltwt

5. Sad bc if Children of the Blood & Bone was adapted & cast right, it would’ve gotten a big audience. Black ppl love fantasy. I mean, there’s a big fanbase of blk ppl that absolutely enjoy anything Game of Thrones. So imagine sumn w/ hella blk characters.

Fumbled badly.

via @SPEEDRCER

6. lightwashing a character that experiences colourism and casting her as biracial, basing a story on yoruba mythology but casting a south african lead with no connection to the culture alongside no leading women of west african descent… it was always going to be a chop

via @heleneoftroys

7. tomi adeyemi coming on the internet to bash amandla and disown the Children of Blood & Bone movie only after she spent the entire production process defending it and amandla as a casting choice is so fucking lame

via @sierruuuuhhhh

8. This children of the blood and bone drama is crushing me, omg we can’t have nothing!!!!

via @krispykuf

9. I’ve watched as The conversation regarding Children of blood and bone movie change and go in so many directions, yet no one knows the truth of what caused the problem. Just assumptions. It’s like 4 different narratives and nobody knows shit yet.

via @Krayzietunes

10. I was really looking forward to this because Children of Blood and Bone felt like it had the potential to be a huge fantasy franchise with Black leads. Seeing the author publicly step away from it definitely changes the excitement.

via @_taylorthegreat