In the film, the actors speak classical Chinese which was mostly used for literary texts and almost never spoken. The final version henceforth includes Chinese subtitles.
In an interview with the New York Times published on 10/07/2015, director Hou said that he filmed in high locations within China and also in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of China. "We looked for higher-altitude places where modern society hasn't come in."
Director Hou told the New York Times in an interview published on 10/07/2015 that he would break the fight scene into smaller parts as the actors weren't skilled fighters. He would also let the actors start fighting when they chose rather than directing them to fight.
Throughout the shooting, more than 500,000 feet of film was shot.
The Assassin is Taiwan's official entry to the 2015 foreign-language Oscar race.