Disney has a notorious track record with fantasy movies over the last 16 years—so it is relieving that Disney will not produce Children of Blood & Bone. The adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood & Bone has been in production for quite some time. Disney announced that Lucasfilm was developing the Children of Blood & Bone adaptation. Before this announcement, Rick Famuyiwa was set to direct Children of Blood & Bone under Fox 2000’s distribution. Once Disney purchased Fox 2000, the company shut down, allowing Disney’s partnership with 20th Century Studios for Children of Blood & Bone.

However, these events occurred over four years ago in 2020. Since then, the adaptation of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood & Bone has endured significant changes. In January 2022, Lucasfilm lost the rights to Children of Blood & Bone to Paramount Pictures, where this adaptation has been developing ever since. Tomi Adeyemi recently announced Children of Blood & Bone’s cast, which includes Viola Davis and Idris Elba. Now that production is well underway with Paramount Pictures, it is a relief that Disney will no longer produce Children of Blood & Bone because of their track record with mediocre fantasy movies.

Disney Has Let Me Down Multiple Times With Its Modern Fantasy Movies

Live-Action Fantasy Is Not Disney’s Strong Suit

Disney’s track record with fantasy movies does not bode well. Beginning with Bedtime Stories in 2008, Disney has had difficulty breaking into fantasy with a high-quality film. Disney has released a plethora of fantasy movies in the last 16 years, including Alice in Wonderland, Oz the Great & Powerful, A Wrinkle in Time, and The Nutcracker & the Four Realms. However, many of them have not done well with critics, even if some are commercial successes. Furthermore, many of Disney’s live-action remakes are fantasy movies, but they have not fared well for the most part either.

Disney also released live-action sequels to reversed fantasy films, such as Pirates of the Caribbean: ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Men Tell No Tales, but even these films are mediocre, especially compared to The Curse of the Black Pearl and ᴅᴇᴀᴅ Man’s Chest. It is hard to believe Disney once released films such as Enchanted or Freaky Friday because of their lack of critical success regarding fantasy movies. Although there have been some exceptions, such as The Jungle Book and Pete’s Dragon, Disney has let me down too often to believe they could have made a decent adaptation for Children of Blood & Bone.

Disney’s Trend Makes Me Glad It Isn’t Making Children Of Blood & Bone

Paramount Pictures Will Release Children Of Blood & Bone

Considering Disney’s history with recent fantasy movies, I am relieved that Lucasfilm lost the rights to Children of Blood & Bone to Paramount Pictures. This film studio is home to several iconic fantasy movies, including Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Ghost, Charlotte’s Web, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Paramount Pictures also has a better track record with book-to-screen adaptations, generally producing better films than Disney in this department. Furthermore, Children of Blood & Bone has an iconic cast, proving that it is shaping up to be a good movie.

Disney Still Needs To Get Original Fantasy Movies Right

Disney Needs To Prioritize Original Live-Action Fantasy Movies

One of Disney’s biggest problems regarding fantasy movies is their unwillingness to branch beyond franchises, sequels, and live-action remakes. Of course, these types of films are necessary for Disney, and some Disney sequels are pretty good. However, Disney has not tried to create an original fantasy movie in quite some time—which does not make sense because of the franchise’s success with original fantasy movies. It is surprising that Disney cannot seem to find its footing with live-action fantasy movies, given its success with animation.

Of course, some Disney animated movies perform better than others, but these films make up most of Disney’s brand. Although many of these films are based on fairy tales, Disney does an excellent job of making them their own without killing the narrative. For some reason, Disney cannot translate this process with live-action remakes or book adaptations. Disney is innovative with animated fantasy movies, but they prioritize money with live-action fantasy films. As long as the movie does well commercially, then its quality does not seem to matter.

Going forward, Disney must change this mindset if the company wants to produce good fantasy movies. We know Disney is capable, so their failure is more frustrating than anything. Disney needs to take great care in producing fantasy movies and optimizing storytelling instead of commercial success (without forgetting about the latter). Disney fantasy movies will continue to be stale if the company continues to play it safe and prioritize financial success over creativity. Thankfully, Paramount’s better track record with this genre makes me optimistic about Children of Blood & Bone.