August // 2026
Lagos, South Africa and the Canary Islands built a world: Here's where Children of Blood and Bone was filmed
Children of Blood and Bone
"That is a wrap on production. 74 days. Two countries and two islands. A passionate and dedicated crew." That was Gina Prince-Bythewood's Instagram post in June 2025. Seventy-four days across Nigeria, South Africa and the Canary Islands to build a fictional African kingdom from the ground up.
Children of Blood and Bone is a Paramount Pictures fantasy epic directed by Prince-Bythewood, adapted from Tomi Adeyemi's bestselling 2018 novel, with a screenplay by Adeyemi and Prince-Bythewood. Principal photography began in Lagos in February 2025 and wrapped in June.
"I wanted to give the cast a 360 world to play in," Prince-Bythewood explained. "That meant building, as opposed to having a CG world." The locations are the foundation of that ambition. The story is set in the fictional kingdom of OrĂ¯sha. The production went to two countries and two islands to build it.

Nigeria and South Africa
Principal photography began in Lagos, Nigeria — West Africa's most populous city and one of the continent's most dynamic cultural capitals, in February 2025.
Filming took place on location in South Africa throughout 2025. The film was shot primarily in South Africa, whose varied landscapes and established production infrastructure were used to recreate the fictional kingdom of Orïsha — combining coastal environments, mountainous terrain and studio facilities to support the fantasy epic.
We don't yet know exactly where the filming took place.
Principal photography wrapped on June 2, 2025 — four months after it began in Lagos.
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The Canary Islands
Additional photography took place on the Canary Islands — the Spanish archipelago off the coast of northwest Africa whose volcanic landscape, black sand beaches, dramatic cliffs and semi-arid terrain give it a visual character unlike anything available in South Africa.
Currently, we don't know of any specific film locations in the Canary Islands.
Children of Blood and Bone opens in theatres and IMAX on January 15, 2027.
AllAfrica // Wikpedia // IMDb
Paramount Pictures, 2.0 Entertainment, Jackson Pictures // Photo Lephatse Motshana