Wu Ershan

Wuershan (乌尔善) is a Chinese film director of Mongol descent. His first feature film was Soap Opera, for which he was awarded the FIPRESCI Award at the Pusan International Film Festival. He went on to direct blockbusters The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman (2010), Painted Skin: The Resurrection (2012), and Mojin: The Lost Legend (2015), for which he was awarded the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Director at the 33rd Hundred Flowers Awards. In 2019, he began production of the Creation of the Gods trilogy. The trilogy was a massive success in China and internationally. As of June 2026, Creation of the Gods I is 31st of the highest-grossing films ever in China.

Early life Wuershan was born in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, on 10 June 1972. he worked as a TV commercials director, video artist, and avant-garde artist. It received mixed reviews from critics. The film was also screened at the Pusan Film Festival. It was presented by Doug Liman at the festival. It was released theatrically on 17 March 2011 in Southeast Asia, North America, Australia and New Zealand simultaneously. Described as an avant-garde martial arts comedy,

Wuershan's third feature film, Painted Skin: The Resurrection, was released on 28 June 2012. The film has an 83% approval rating on aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, and is described as a "deliciously nutty love story". With a total box office gross of $115.07 million, the film became the highest grossing domestic film in China, beating the previous record holder Let the Bullets Fly.

His fourth feature film was Mojin: The Lost Legend, an action adventure fantasy thriller film based on the novel Ghost Blows Out the Light. It was released on December 18, 2015. The film won several awards, including Best Visual Effects at the Beijing College Student Film Festival and the Golden Horse Awards, and Wuershan was named Best Director at the 33rd Hundred Flowers Awards. The movie however received mixed reviews from western critics. The film was a huge box-office success, grossing over US$278 million on a budget of US$37 million.

In 2019, he began on the production on the Creation of the Gods trilogy. Sometimes dubbed as "China's Lord of the Rings", it is the "most ambitious and expensive production in Chinese history." The production has a crew of over two thousands employees.

The novel combines elements of history, folklore, mythology, legends and fantasy, with a story set in the era of the decline of the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC) and the rise of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC). It tells about the downfall of King Zhou, the Shang Dynasty's last ruler. He becomes a tyrant after having been "bewitched by a fox spirit posing as his concubine." An epic battle "rages to defeat him, involving gods, demons and other supernatural beings." Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms , 2023 The Traveller, 2024 Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force , 2025 Creation of the Gods III: Creation Under Heaven, TBA

Producer Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms, 2023 The Traveller, 2024

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryProjectResult 2016Hundred Flowers AwardsBest Director Mojin: The Lost Legend 2011 Golden Horse AwardsBest New Director The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman 2004 Pusan International Film FestivalFIPRESCI Award Soap Opera