The director and actress shared never-before-seen footage from the upcoming Paramount production and spoke about the experience of bringing Tomi Adeyemi’s bestselling novel to the screen during a Q&A with The View co-host Sunny Hostin.
“Obviously films like this don’t get made very often,” Prince-Bythewood told Hostin. “They say 70% of directing is casting, and that’s what this was. To be able to put together a cast like this. There are no skips. Everybody is amazing. … And as I was working on the script, I started to envision people that I wanted.”
Based on Adeyemi’s acclaimed 2018 novel, Children of Blood and Bone was filmed in South Africa, which stands in for the fictional kingdom of Orïsha, where magic has been outlawed.
The story follows Zélie Adebola, a young woman with the ability to command the undead, as she sets out to restore magic stolen from her people. Alongside her brother Tzain, she joins forces with Princess Amari and Prince Inan as they challenge the kingdom’s brutal ruler.
Mbedu, known for The Underground Railroad and The Woman King, plays Zélie. The ensemble cast includes Damson Idris as Prince Inan, Amandla Stenberg as Princess Amari, Tosin Cole as Tzain and Regina King as Queen Nehanda. Lashana Lynch, Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo and Viola Davis also star.
For Mbedu, filming in South Africa was particularly meaningful because it meant returning to her home country. She began preparing for the demanding role, including stunt training, almost a year before production started.
“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.”
Prince-Bythewood and Adeyemi share screenplay credit on the film.
Mbedu said adapting Adeyemi’s expansive world required the cast to consider details that may not always appear directly on screen.
“Tomi created a massive world, a huge world,” she said. “We don’t have enough hours to put everything on screen. So finding the moments where, even if we’re not seeing it on screen, how am I bringing the reality of the history or the backstory of what we might have meant into the next moment.”
The film has also faced attention surrounding Adeyemi’s reported reaction to the production. The author, who served as an executive producer, recently said on social media that she would not watch the completed film, describing her departure from the set as “hyperventilating and sobbing” and saying she was “still being antagonized behind the scenes.”
Neither Prince-Bythewood nor Mbedu directly addressed those claims during the festival discussion. Prince-Bythewood instead praised Adeyemi’s writing and the world she created.
“Tomi’s a genius,” Prince-Bythewood said. “It’s a beautiful book, incredible characters. And this time when I read it, I was so connected to Lali’s character. And this young woman who was fighting to bring magic back- and we know what magic means for us. And her resilience, her fight and her search for purpose just spoke to me.”
The director also discussed the casting of Stenberg as Princess Amari. The decision drew criticism from some fans over allegations of colorism because of Stenberg’s mixed-race background and lighter complexion. Adeyemi also appeared to criticize the actor in a since-deleted TikTok post.
Prince-Bythewood did not address that controversy directly but explained her approach to finding the actress for the role.
“I’ve admired [Amandla’s] work since ‘Colombiana,’” Prince-Bythewood told Hostin and the MVAAFF audience. “But I auditioned every young actor for that role of Amari, and Amandla took it, grabbed it.”
With the film scheduled to arrive in theaters on Jan. 15, 2027, Prince-Bythewood said she is eager for audiences to experience the finished project for themselves.
“You’re going to feel every human emotion in this,” she said. “You’re going to be angry, you’re going to laugh, you’re going to cry, you’re going to dance, you’re going to cheer, you’re going to feel hope at the end. And that’s why I hope we go to movies, to feel something, to be moved. So I’m so excited about that. And as we know, these films are rare. I’m so proud of this movie, so excited about this movie and the thing that it can do for us when we see ourselves in this way.”