The White Haired Witch of Lunar Kingdom

Set in the final years of the Ming dynasty, this action fantasy follows Lian Nishang, a sorceress known as Jade Raksha who leads a cult dedicated to punishing corrupt officials and protecting ordinary people from oppression. With the Manchurians pressing against a weakened empire, her campaign against abusive soldiers brings her into conflict with the authorities. When the governor Zhuo Zhonglian is murdered, local officials place the blame on her, and she and her followers become wanted fugitives for a crime they did not commit.

Jacob Cheung directed the film, his second feature after Battle of the Warriors in 2006. The screenplay is by Guo Junli and Yali Zhu. Fan Bingbing plays Lian Nishang and Huang Xiaoming plays Zhuo Yihang, with Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo, Wang Xuebing, Ni Dahong and Cecilia Yip in supporting roles. The film is a mainland Chinese production from Bona Film Group and Prosperity Pictures, made for about 16 million dollars and released in February 2014 on a running time of 104 minutes.

The worldwide box office came to roughly 63 million dollars, a strong return against its budget. On IMDb it holds a rating of 5.3 out of 10 from about 1,900 votes, while on TMDB the rating is 6.4 out of 10 from 118 votes. Audience response on the two platforms is mixed, with the larger IMDb sample less favourable than the smaller TMDB group.