THE SWORDSWOMAN — Feature Film Adaptation Package
A female-led wuxia revenge thriller, adapted from a Chinese classic. Clean rights. Ready to develop.
Logline: In Ming-dynasty Nanjing, a poor painter takes in a mysterious refugee woman — only to discover she is a swordswoman who has spent three years hiding in plain sight, waiting to avenge her executed father. On the night she finally takes her enemy's head, she vanishes forever, leaving him her child.
Mulan by way of John Wick — a disciplined revenge thriller wrapped around a restrained, In the Mood for Love-style romance.
What's inside
- Complete English treatment — logline, synopsis, full three-act treatment, character breakdowns, themes, production notes, and market positioning.
- Opening 9 pages of screenplay in industry-standard format — so you can hear the film's voice from page one.
- Chain-of-title summary — the underlying story, Pu Songling's "Xia Nü" (Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, 1740), is in the public domain in China and the United States. No rights to clear, no estate to negotiate.
Why this IP
- Fresh to Western screens. Unlike better-known tales from the same collection, "Xia Nü" has never been adapted for English-language film or TV.
- Contained by design. Three principal locations, realistic action, financeable at the independent level — no armies, no spectacle bloat.
- Female-led. The market's strongest current, and a protagonist who chooses everything: her gratitude, her lover, her vengeance, her departure.
- Franchise-adjacent. A doorway into the 491-story Liaozhai universe for buyers thinking beyond a single film.
Who it's for
Independent producers, development executives, and streamers seeking shootable, rights-clean IP with a distinctive voice.
Terms
This purchase covers the development materials (non-exclusive). Exclusive option and purchase of adaptation rights are negotiated separately — contact us to discuss.
Launch offer: first 3 buyers get US$100 off with code XN100.
