Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993) had to fit Bruce Lee's life into under two hours, so its writer-director Rob Cohen told it like a Bruce Lee movie, with mystical elements. He built on a legend from Bruce's childhood: his parents dressed him as a girl for his first two years to protect him from a Chinese belief that demons target first-born sons. Cohen made a demon chase Bruce as a metaphor for the inner drive that may have shaped him. Bruce's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, confirmed he had felt a demon dragging him away when he collapsed ten weeks before he died. Brandon Lee, who was set to star in the role before turning it down, was killed in a shooting accident during filming of The Crow in March 1993, and the film's demon was later shown chasing him too.

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.