Paramount’s first look at ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ introduces Thuso Mbedu as Zélie, a young warrior fighting to restore magic to the kingdom of Orïsha
The ensemble stacks Damson Idris, Amandla Stenberg, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Regina King, Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo and Viola Davis beneath director Gina Prince-Bythewood
Tems and Burna Boy anchor the film’s music while the trailer moves to an excerpt of Beyoncé’s “Energy”
Paramount Pictures has dropped the first trailer for Children of Blood and Bone, the big-screen adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s 2018 bestseller, and it lands with the scale of a full-blown blockbuster. The clip pulls back the curtain on Orïsha, a mythic pre-colonial West African kingdom where magic has been violently stripped from the people, and centers Thuso Mbedu as Zélie Adebola, the young maji at the heart of the fight to bring it back.
The footage wastes no time flexing its ambition. Sweeping location photography, large-scale battle sequences and creature-heavy VFX build out a world divided into clans, each wielding its own elemental gift, from those who bend water, fire, wind and earth to seers who can read the past and future. Mbedu’s Zélie, gifted with the power to command undead spirits, moves through it all as a coming-of-age heroine dodging the forces of a ruthless king, played by Backrooms star Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Behind the camera is Gina Prince-Bythewood, returning to the epic register she commanded on The Woman King, and she brings collaborators with her: Mbedu, Viola Davis and Lashana Lynch all reunite from that 2022 hit. The rest of the call sheet reads like a fantasy fan’s wish list. Damson Idris and Amandla Stenberg play the king’s children, Prince Inan and Princess Amari, while Tosin Cole, Regina King, Idris Elba and Cynthia Erivo round out a genuinely stacked ensemble.
Then there’s the sound. Paramount has loaded the project with serious musical firepower, tapping Tems as executive music producer and Burna Boy as executive music consultant, both attached to deliver original songs. The trailer itself rides an excerpt of Beyoncé‘s 2022 track “Energy,” a needle-drop that signals exactly how big this swing is meant to feel.
Watch the trailer above. Children of Blood and Bone opens in theaters and IMAX on January 15, 2027.
