Nigerian-American director, producer and screenwriter Rick Famuyiwa has signed the deal to direct Children of Blood and Bone, an adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi‘s bestselling fantasy novel.
Author Tomi Adeyemi is so excited and has been waiting to share the news with her fans for months, she finally did yesterday via social media.
David Magee wrote the script for the Fox 2000 adaptation, and Gillian Bohrer will be overseeing for fox.
Famuyiwa will produce under Verse and Verse’s Scott Falconer will serve as associate producer.
Famuyiwa has directed several movies about the black American experience but really caught the attention of studio execs with Dope, which centred on teens from Inglewood, California, and was a Sundance hit.
He is repped by WME, Oasis Media Group and Del Shaw.
Other producers include Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner and John Fischer of Temple Hill and Karen Rosenfelt via her Sunswept Entertainment company.
The book, set in a magic-infused kingdom named Orisha, where a young woman named Zelie Adebola witnesses the death of her mother and other magicians, called “maji,” under the order of a ruthless king. The woman has a chance to restore magic to her land but has to first team up with a rogue princess and outwit and outrun a crown prince while avoiding prowling snow “leoponaires” and vengeful spirits that wait in the waters.
25 year old Adeyemi made headlines in the publishing world when she sold her debut book in the seven-figure range, one of the biggest for a YA debut. The book, which the author has pitched as an “African Last Airbender” and “Black Panther with magic,” was published March 6, 2018, and hit best-seller status. The second novel in an intended trilogy, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, will be released June 4, 2019.
Have you read the book? We just can’t wait to see the characters come to life.
