Netflix has long since figured out that it needs to deliver what the people want if it's going to reign as the best streaming service on the market. What the people want, it turns out, is a trashy action movie that they haven't seen before, ideally once a week or so.
So, it's been busy over the last few years ensuring that it has star-studded productions that don't take themselves too seriously – and the latest just got unveiled. Back in Action will arrive on Netflix on 17 January 2025, and stars a couple of huge names: Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx.
They'll play a happily married couple whose simple family life is interrupted by a crashing return to their old ways – they're actually retired CIA agents who get pulled back into the field. If that sounds like the recipe for a serious thriller, though, the movie's first trailer makes it clear it won't be too dour.
In fact, it's clearly going to be a bit of an action comedy, with Diaz and Foxx bantering back and forth through car chases, fight scenes, and even a climax that looks a lot like a plane crash in the mountains. I'd put decent money on it being relatively family-friendly, too, since Netflix knows that's where the smart money sits.
We don't know a massive amount more about what will drive the plot of the movie – like who the bad guys will be, or what Diaz and Foxx will be fighting to stop, but in fairness that's all probably water under the bridge. I'd wager a quick watch of the teaser trailer embedded above will give you a clear idea of whether it's the sort of movie you'll be seated for or not.
Diaz has perhaps starred in more of this sort of low-stakes high-budget fun before, but it's interesting to see Foxx dipping his toe – he's a huge, Oscar-winning name for Netflix to lure in. The streaming arms race is partly built on star power, after all, so his wattage will be a boon to the platform if it can get him involved in more projects after Back in Action.
