It’s a really unexpected coincidence that the title and some of the themes and her character’s situation [as a retired spy turned mom] lined up with real life. It’s almost as if Back in Action was meant to coax her out of retirement, but I swear it wasn’t. It’s just extraordinary timing and really good fortune and Jamie’s access, frankly.

The action-comedy overcame more than the usual amount of hurdles on the way to the screen, all the way up to its New York premiere being canceled in solidarity with the troubling times in Los Angeles.

Back in Action' director Seth Gordon tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx supported each other throughout filming — when the actress marked her return to acting with her first movie in over a decade and the actor had a medical emergency during production in April 2023.

Back in Action,” a new Netflix film starring Diaz alongside Jamie Foxx, was the streamer’s most-watched title during the week of Jan. 13-19. With only three days of availability, the film hit 46.8 million views - the biggest opening weekend for an English-language film on Netflix since

Back in Action' director Seth Gordon tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that Jamie Foxx was Cameron Diaz's 'biggest cheerleader' as she returned to acting with her first movie in more than a decade.

You'll see the "third-act 'twist' coming a mile off", said Ben Travis in Empire, and Andrew Scott and Kyle Chandler are "wasted in insubstantial roles". But Back in Action is a fun, "fizzily watchable" treat. A word to Diaz: "Next time don't leave it so long, eh?"

Back in Action’ director Seth Gordon praises Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz’s friendship on set of her first movie in a decade

The costars didn’t hold back on their commentary on everything from Diaz’s ‘90s fashion to Foxx’s underwear Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx may be back in action, but they’re fine with retiring some of their past outfit choices.