# Phantom Blade Zero Director Reveals How He Made ‘A Playable Kung Fu Movie’ with Donnie Yen

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/phantom-blade-zero-director-reveals-how-he-made-a-playable-kung-fu-movie-with-donnie-yen/
- Published: 2026-10-30T12:00:17+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T12:35:25+00:00
- Original publisher: Polygon
- Original article: https://www.polygon.com/phantom-blade-zero-director-soulframe-interview-donnie-yen/
- Topics: Entertainment, Film, Software, Technology

## Key points

- Phantom Blade Zero is designed to feel like a playable wuxia film.
- Donnie Yen advised on kung fu and performed motion capture.
- The studio built its action approach for its first AAA game.

## Summary

Phantom Blade Zero aims to make players feel as though they are starring in a wuxia film, with flowing, highly stylised martial arts at its core. Director Soulframe Liang says the ambition has made development difficult, as the studio is building its first big-budget game and creating much of its approach from the ground up.

Actor and martial artist Donnie Yen joined as a creative consultant, contributing his kung fu experience and helping direct combat, as well as performing motion capture for his masked character, Mó Yuan. Yen often travelled to Shanghai on weekends while filming other projects, and worked with a team of 15 to 20 people that included action director Kenji Tanigaki; combat director Yang Liu also helped shape the game’s fights.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.