In 2000, Paul Walker suggested a dream action film that mixed Days of Thunder and Donnie Brasco, and the producers brought him a Vibe magazine article from 1998 about underground street racing in New York City. The story was reshaped into an undercover cop infiltrating Los Angeles street racing, and Vin Diesel joined after proposing script changes. The title was almost Racer X, Redline or Race Wars, but the producers licensed the name The Fast and the Furious from a 1954 film owned by Roger Corman's company. The 2001 release beat box office expectations and spawned a franchise. Later instalments shifted from street racing toward heist and spy plots, with Fast Five abandoning most racing elements. The franchise also became known for filming around the world, starting with Tokyo Drift. After Walker's death in 2013, his brothers were used as stand-ins with CGI to complete his role in Furious 7.

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.