LayarHijau – The screenwriter and producer of Blades of the Guardians (镖人：风起大漠), Yu Baimei, recently shared his thoughts on how technological progress in filmmaking has paradoxically made audiences crave stories that feel more human and authentic.
In an interview with CCTV-6, Yu Baimei said that while technology continues to advance, audiences still long for the emotional sincerity and vitality that come from real human storytelling.
“The further technology advances, the more audiences seem to want something that feels alive. They want to feel sincerity, something grounded, something full of vitality, and something connected to traditional culture,” he explained.
He added that wuxia films still have plenty of room for innovation, particularly in action design. During the production of Blades of the Guardians, the team deliberately combined traditional filmmaking techniques with modern technology.
“During filming, we indeed used many traditional methods—almost like crafting things by hand. But in reality, there’s a lot of technological input behind it,” he said.
A Project Once Expected to Lose Money
The film became one of the surprises of this year’s Chinese New Year movie season. Blades of the Guardians was the only film during the holiday period to see its box office grow after its initial release.
Within its first nine days in theaters, the film surpassed 900 million yuan (around $125 million) and eventually crossed 1.3 billion yuan (around $180 million), making it the highest-grossing wuxia film in box office history.
Its success has led some observers to view it as a possible sign of a wuxia genre revival in the Chinese film industry.
In the same interview, Yu Baimei revealed that the project had always been considered financially risky from the start. In fact, he and Wu Jing initially assumed the film might lose money.
“From the very beginning, we were prepared to lose money. But even if it meant losing money, we still wanted to make it,” Yu Baimei said.
He explained that Wu Jing’s motivation for the project was deeply personal. Having trained as a wushu athlete since childhood, Wu Jing is now in his 50s.
“If he couldn’t make another wuxia film, I think he would feel like he couldn’t rest in peace. That’s the core motivation behind why he wanted to make this film,” Yu Baimei said.
Box Office Surpasses 1.3 Billion Yuan
After its release, the film gradually gained momentum thanks to strong word-of-mouth from audiences. Blades of the Guardians staged a notable comeback during the latter half of the holiday season.
Its total box office has now exceeded 1.3 billion yuan (around $180 million) and is expected to potentially surpass 1.4 billion yuan (around $195 million).
Yu Baimei also confirmed that the film did not end up losing money and has already come close to breaking even. He added that more and more viewers are showing renewed interest in wuxia stories.
“Every day there are viewers urging us to hurry up and make the second film,” he said.
The Biggest Challenge: A Shortage of Action Stars
However, Yu Baimei believes that the revival of wuxia films faces a major obstacle: the lack of a new generation of action stars.
According to him, the Chinese film industry is currently experiencing a generational gap when it comes to action actors.
“Wu Jing and Nicholas Tse are almost the last generation of action stars that the entire country recognizes,” he said.
Yu Baimei also recalled an emotional moment when he met Jet Li on the set of Blades of the Guardians. He said he felt incredibly excited because he grew up watching Jet Li’s classic film Shaolin Temple.
But he also noticed a clear generational gap when he saw the reaction of his young assistant.
“My assistant is very young, and he didn’t even know who Jet Li was,” Yu Baimei said.
According to Yu Baimei, the Chinese film industry has not produced a truly new action superstar in more than a decade.
“For over ten years, there hasn’t been a new action superstar in the Chinese film market. That’s one of the biggest challenges we face,” he said.
Promoting a New Generation of Action Actors
Because of that, the production team behind Blades of the Guardians attempted to promote the concept of “the older generation guiding the new,” hoping to cultivate a new wave of action stars.
Yu Baimei mentioned several younger performers whom he believes have great potential, including Chen Lijun and Yu Shi.
“Actors of their generation have limitless possibilities,” Yu Baimei said.
