Making Evita took more than a decade and passed through many hands. Paramount, Warner Bros. and MGM bid for the film rights after the 1976 concept album, and the project moved through studios including Disney, which dropped it when the budget reached $30 million. Directors including Ken Russell, Oliver Stone and Herbert Ross were attached or considered at different points. Meryl Streep was a front-runner for the lead before stepping down, and Madonna campaigned for the role. Alan Parker finally directed it in the mid-1990s, writing a script from the concept album rather than the stage show.

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.