Before Jet Li was signed on for the role of Zhou Huai'an, Tsui reportedly offered the role to Donnie Yen but he turned it down due to the fact he has no wish to be in sequels/remakes of previous films he has already worked on. Jet Li was signed with US$ 12 million contract to star in this film.
This movie is the sixth collaboration between Jet Li and director, Tsui Hark. Tsui Hark directed Once Upon a Time in China 1, 2, and 3, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate and The Master. Tsui Hark also wrote the screenplay for Black Mask which Jet Li also starred in.
Jet Li, could only do the opening sequence in The Expendables 2. Due to his commitment on this film.
In a 2011 interview with AFO Radio, Hark Tsui spoke about the significance of being the first Chinese film to use 3D Imax technology: "During the production, I talked to the people in our crew and also the actors, I said, 'This is the moment we knock on the door. Behind the door is a place where we would go to, a very different realm, different dimension of moviemaking'. After we finish the movie, and the movie is released on a screen in theaters so the people can see it... We knocked on the door and the door is open, and now we cross the threshold into the area where we see the future of movies in Asia."
Tsui also invited Chuck Comisky, the visual-effects supervisor for James Cameron's Avatar (2009), as the 3-D director to manage the special effects. Comisky will lead a team of 3D crew from China, Korea, Singapore, Spain, etc.