Nigerian writer, 23, lands ‘seven-figure’ movie deal with Fox Studios

Tomi Adeyemi, a 23-year-old Nigerian writer, has secured a movie deal with Hollywood studio, Fox, for her book ‘Children of Blood and Bone’. The lucrative deal with Fox Studios is said to be in the seven-figure region, Deadline reports.

Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American writer and creative writing coach based in San Diego, who graduated from Harvard before receiving a fellowship to study West African mythology and culture in Salvador, Brazil. At ICM Partners, Alexandra Machinist and Hillary Jacobson brokered the book deal with Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group president/publisher Jon Yaged and will be published by Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, where Christian Trimmer was the acquiring editor and Tiffany Liao will edit the book.

 

Although Adeyemi’s ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ is the first instalment of a trilogy, Fox is interested enough to make a preemptive deal. The fantasy novel trilogy will spawn a movie trilogy.

Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey are said to be producing the trilogy with Karen Rosenfelt.

The author, a debutant, has also landed a publishing deal with Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

Adeyemi, a graduate of Harvard University with a honors degree in English literature, is a creative writing coach based in San Diego US.

After graduating from Harvard, she secured a fellowship which enabled her to study West African mythology and culture in Salvador, Brazil.

Through her blog Tomiadeyemi.com, she dishes out writing tips to aspiring authors.

‘Children of Blood and Bone’ is a mythical fantasy novel which infuses African culture/characters and magic.

Alexandra Machinist and Hillary Jacobson brokered the book deal with Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group president/publisher, Jon Yaged.

The next instalments of the book will be published by Henry Holt Books.