Although Nicky Wu’s (吳奇隆) tragic wuxia drama, The Bride With White Hair <新白发魔女传>, raked in favorable viewership ratings in the first few weeks of release, ratings dropped dramatically in the weeks preceding the drama’s finale broadcast. Facing competition with the highly popular talent show, The Voice of China <中国好声音>, The Bride With White Hair’s main broadcast channel, Hunan TV, and the drama’s main production companies, Phoenix Legend Films and Beijing Dao Cao Xiong Film and Television, are allegedly working close together to bring the faltering ratings back up. According to a rumor that has been circulating around the web, The Bride With White Hair producer and star, Nicky Wu, reached out to Hunan TV and requested for permission to add in an extra ending for the drama’s grand finale, hoping that the surprise ending will attract more viewers. It is reported that the new ending will alter the fate to all of its characters, most importantly Nicky’s character, Lian Nichang, who will also sport white hair in the end along with the drama’s titular character. Responses for this rumored ending has been mixed. Some fans expressed their excitement for a surprise ending, while other fans thought it was an unnecessary move, reportedly saying that no surprise ending would be able to bring up the poor quality of the entire drama. A huge budget went towards the production of The Bride With White Hair. Hunan TV wanted to have the drama be available for broadcast as soon as possible, resulting in the production crew for The Bride With White Hair to rush into post-production work while the drama was simultaneously in broadcast. Although The Bride With White Hair performed decently and did not flop, it is alleged that the ratings underperformed to the broadcaster’s expectations. The Chairman of Phoenix Legend Films, Jiang Hao (蒋浩), stated, “The Bride With White Hair is mainland China’s first drama to broadcast in the weekend time slot. There’s a lot of pressure for us. However, we are very confidant with the viewership ratings. The recent ratings reports were within our expectations. We believe that the ratings will increase in the future.” Jiang confirmed that several versions of the drama’s ending have been filmed, and they will choose the appropriate ending depending on the viewers and netizens’ feedback and tastes. Nonetheless, with a total of over 700 million views, The Bride With White Hair has remained a popular drama for many online viewers.
