Director Gina Prince-Bythewood has confirmed that Nigerian singer Tems has taken on a landmark role as Executive Music Producer and Curator for the official soundtrack of Paramount Pictures’ upcoming fantasy film, Children of Blood and Bone. The news broke at an exclusive trailer launch event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where Prince-Bythewood sat in conversation with her former assistant, Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Lena Waithe, discussing how central music was to her creative process while writing and directing the film.

Speaking about how Tems’ involvement came to be, Prince-Bythewood explained that she builds playlists as part of her writing process, and two songs in particular stayed on repeat throughout: “Try Me” by Tems and “Alone” by Burna Boy. “They have to be on the soundtrack,” she recalled deciding, before pushing further. “I want Tems to curate our soundtrack. I want her to EP.” She went on to note the significance of the appointment: “She’s actually the first woman to executive produce a soundtrack at this level, which is wow.” Of the finished product, Prince-Bythewood didn’t hold back her enthusiasm, calling it “an epic soundtrack, no skips whatsoever.”

Tems’ contribution goes beyond curation, she is set to contribute three original songs to the project, with her manager Muyiwa Awoniyi confirming the same on X. Burna Boy, whose track “Alone” helped shape the film’s sonic direction early on, joins the production as executive music consultant, and the wider soundtrack lineup includes Fireboy DML, BNXN (Benson), and Ayra Starr, with Starr also making her Hollywood acting debut in the film itself.

Tems role in the movie is a pointed statement at the center of the film’s musical identity in a way that mirrors the story’s own Afrocentric world-building. Children of Blood and Bone is set for theatrical release on January 15, 2027.