 Stallone got the idea to set the film in Burma from the United Nations, which he later pitched to producers.The producers found the idea compelling after visiting Karen refugee camps.Maung Maung Khin is a former Karen freedom fighter and stated that if he accepted the role of the film's villain, there was a chance some of his family would have been incarcerated in Burma, but accepted the role regardless, feeling that bringing awareness of the Saffron Revolution was important.