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Scarlett Johansson’s box office reign has come to an end.
As of January 12, Zoe Saldaña has dethroned Johansson as the highest-grossing movie star of all time with the help of James Cameron’s Avatar series.
Avatar: Fire and Ash, the latest installment in the franchise, hit $1.23 billion at the global box office Tuesday, bringing Saldaña’s total gross to $16.8 billion, according to industry publication The Numbers.
The Oscar-winning actor, 47, has steadily climbed the chart throughout her career with leading roles in 18 films, including major blockbusters like the Avatar movies, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity War and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. She is the only actor to star in the three highest-grossing movies of all time: Avatar, Avengers: Endgame and Avatar: The Way of Water.
Johansson, Saldaña’s Marvel co-star, now sits in the second spot on the list with $16.4 billion. She previously rocketed from third place to first last summer with the release of Jurassic World Rebirth.
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Scarlett Johansson is now the second highest-grossing movie star of all time (Getty Images)
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Zoe Saldaña has become the top highest-grossing actor of all time with $6.8 billion at the worldwide box office (Getty Images for Disney)
While $6 billion of Saldaña’s gains are attributed to starring as Neytiri in Cameron’s sci-fi films, the majority of Johansson’s success came from her role as Natasha Romanoff, whose superhero name is Black Widow, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The other actors atop the chart of highest-grossing actors are also known for their roles in the Marvel franchise, as Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Pratt round out the top five.
Despite having a raft of blockbusters under her belt, Saldaña has previously spoken about the creative frustrations that can accompany work on big-budget franchises.
“How do I speak about this in a way that won’t make those wonderful filmmakers feel like I’m letting them down?” Saldaña told The Independent’s Annabel Nugent in December 2024, months before she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Emilia Perez.
“Because I’m not taking those moments for granted; they’re the reason I’m here,” she continued. “But when you play a part in something that was so special in the beginning, and because of its success now, feeds a commercial machine that requires a lot more time and therefore now runs on its own… Unless you’re a person that has creative control on the project, the level of input you have as an artist is [diminished]. Now I play a smaller part in a bigger thing.”