Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy directed by John Landis. Dan Aykroyd plays an upper-class commodities broker and Eddie Murphy plays a street hustler, and their lives are swapped as part of a bet between two wealthy brothers to see how each would cope. The film was shot on location in Philadelphia and New York City. It earned over $120 million worldwide and became the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1983 in the United States and Canada. Critics praised the cast and the screwball revival, though some objected that it promoted wealth over morality. Murphy became one of Hollywood's most sought-after comedians, and the film is now often ranked among the best Christmas comedies.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.