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.

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx, the stars of Netflix's action film Back in Action, also led in one of the most quotable football movies ever made.

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.

Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx both star in Netflix’s latest comedy-thriller Back in Action. The movie focuses on ex-CIA agents Emily and Matt returning to their life of espionage

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?"

Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz's new movie 'Back in Action' debuted with 46.8 million views in its opening weekend on Netflix.

They also hyped up their double-denim looks, including Diaz’s sexy Canadian tux moment at the 2000 Charlie’s Angels screening (“When do I not wear denim-on-denim?” she quipped) and Foxx’s “Ice Cube” ensemble from the Men of Honor premiere that same year.