Tomi Adeyemi, author of the best-selling fantasy “Children of Blood and Bone,” does not plan to see the upcoming film adaptation, even though she co-wrote it.
Over the weekend, the Nigerian-American author posted a video on TikTok addressing her fans who have been asking her the same question: “Why aren't you posting about the adaptation of your first film adaptation anymore?”
“There's a reason I won't be posting anything about adapting my work,” the author wrote in what appear to be screenshots of a group chat. “I haven't seen the movie and I won't watch it.”
The adaptation of the first installment of Adeyemi's “Legacy of Orïsha” fantasy trilogy is scheduled to hit theaters in January 2027. Gina Prince-Bythewood, who wrote and directed “Love & Basketball” and directed “The Woman King,” is directing. The film stars Amandla Stenberg, Untilo Mbedu, Tosin Cole, Damson Idris, Cynthia Erivo, Lashana Lynch, Regina King, Idris Elba, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Viola Davis.
In addition to screenshots of her comments in the group chat, she shared a February 2025 exchange with Stenberg that shows the author severing ties with the actor.
Adeyemi only shared his final message to Stenberg, which reads: “Don't ever use my name in an interview or video again. Don't text me. Don't call me.” That exchange is followed by a notification that she blocked Stenberg, who plays Princess Amari in the upcoming fantasy film.
Stenberg's message that preceded Adeyemi's response is not shown in full.
Stenberg, who played Rue in “The Hunger Games,” Starr Carter in “The Hate U Give” and, recently, Verosha “Osha” Aniseya and Mae-ho “Mae” Aniseya in the Disney “Star Wars” series “The Acolyte,” had been receiving criticism from readers of the series, who claimed that colorism was an issue when casting the film.
In February 2025, Stenberg posted a now-deleted nine-minute TikTok addressing the controversy, telling her followers that Adeyemi had given the actor her blessing when she was cast as the series' princess.
“I've been training for 'Children of Blood and Bone' for four months and I'm getting beat up,” Stenberg joked in the video, according to BET.
“Honestly, this year was mostly defined for me by dealing with what it felt like to receive racist death threats just for existing in the world. The 'Star Wars' universeand it was a really hard thing for me to get through,” she continued. “But honestly, it's a lot more painful for me to feel like I'm at odds with my own community.”
Stenberg said she considers her skin tone when choosing her career and would “never look for a role” she didn't feel suited for. “I know colorism is an insidious system that relentlessly impacts all facets of entertainment.”
The actress went on to say that it was actually a meeting with the author of “Children of Blood and Bone” that gave her the confidence to move forward with the role.
“I had the opportunity to meet Tomi, the novelist, for the first time… And she said to me, 'Amandla, I want you to know that when you were a little girl and you were cast as Rue in 'The Hunger Games,' people said that Rue's death wouldn't be so sad because you're a black girl, and 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,'” Stenberg said in the video. “We started crying and I said to myself: 'God wants me here.'”
Representatives for Stenberg, Adeyemi and Prince-Bythewood did not immediately respond to The Times' request for comment.
