Director Michel Hazanavicius' original plan was to feature an aging and bald OSS 117, set the film in the 1970s and take inspiration from blaxploitation movies. Screenwriter Jean-François Halin refused to age the character, keeping him young as he was in the previous films, which would make the timeline of the series a floating one. The only plan to carry over from the original idea was to set the story in an African country. The movie now takes place in the 1980s.
With this film, Jean Dujardin becomes the first actor to portray OSS 117 three times on the screen, breaking the record he previously shared with Kerwin Mathews and Frederick Stafford, both of whom appeared individually in two films of their own.
OSS 117 - Der Spion, der sich liebte (2006) and OSS 117 - Er selbst ist sich genug (2009) were both directed by Michel Hazanavicius but he wasn't involved with the production of this third installment. Reportedly, this was allegedly because "he didn't like the script".
Actors Bruno Paviot, Karim Barras, and Jean-Édouard Bodziak briefly reprise their roles as Roger Moulinier, Jacky Jacquard, and Jean-René Calot from the spy TV series, Frankreich gegen den Rest der Welt (2015) created by OSS 117 scribe Jean-François Halin. The secretarial pool and the offices for the French Intelligence, SDECE, use the very same sets as the one seen in the second season of the show, thus making the TV series a spin-off of the OSS 117 films starring Jean Dujardin in a way.
The film was delayed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, first from its original slot on the 3rd of February and later from the 14th of April. It was eventually released in France on the 4th of August 2021. A possible release in the United States might schedule the film's theatrical debut for the following year.
Nicolas Bedos: man talking to Micheline (Natacha Lindinger) during the presidential party towards the end. After OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin) leaves, he asks her: "Who is that guy?", a reversed nod to Jean Dujardin's fame.