Author Tomi Adeyemi has doubled down on her negative comments about the forthcoming Hollywood adaptation of her 2018 fantasy novel “Children of Blood and Bone,” revealing that she will “never” let one of her books be adapted again and that she has no plans to watch the new film.
Her latest comments come just a few months after Adeyemi posted a TikTok video in late July in which she called the “Children of Blood and Bone” adaptation process “the worst thing I have ever had to live through.” She went on to say that her experiences on the film’s set had left her “hyperventilating and sobbing,” adding, “I never want to hear about this project again.”
Adeyemi additionally alleged in the video that she was “still being antagonized behind the scenes” and that she had “suffered such severe somatic pain and so many panic attacks” after returning to America, following the completion of the film’s principal photography phase. In an interview with The Guardian published Sunday, Adeyemi defended her decision to publicly speak out against the film.
“I understood that if I didn’t speak up, I couldn’t move forward,” the author told the outlet. “I can’t really worry about the response, because I don’t have to live with how people respond to me – I have to live with me, every day.”
“I won’t go into specifics,” the author said when asked about her experiences on the film’s set, adding, “[But] the whole journey of the trilogy and the adaptation felt biblical … It took all of me.”
The upcoming adaptation of her best-selling fantasy novel was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Woman King”) and is set to hit theaters in the U.S. on Jan. 15, 2027. The film boasts an all-star cast led by Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Regina King, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Damson Idris, Amandla Stenberg, Cynthia Erivo, Lashana Lynch and Thuso Mbedu. Stenberg, notably, is set to play a character described in Adeyemi’s book as having “dark copper skin.” Stenberg is mixed race, which led to questions of colorism online following her casting.
Stenberg responded to the backlash in February. However, in her since-deleted TikTok video, Adeyemi shared what appeared to be screenshots of a group chat with Stenberg in which she told the actor, “Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me. Do not call me.”
When asked by The Guardian if she wanted to clarify her thoughts publicly about Stenberg’s casting, Adeyemi said, “With a film, the director makes every decision. With my book I can talk about every choice down to the commas, because that’s truly in my hands. So there’s nothing for me to add, other than the clarity that these aren’t my choices.”
She went on to note that she would “never” let someone adapt one of her books for the big screen again, adding of the new film, “I still don’t plan to watch it, but it’s not really for me to watch.”
“I’m proud of my strength, resilience and grace,” she added.
