Avatar actress Zoe Saldaña overtakes Scarlett Johansson as the highest-grossing movie star of all time: Details inside

The latest film in the series, Avatar: Fire and Ash, crossed $1.23 billion at the worldwide box office on Tuesday.

• Zoe Saldaña becomes highest-grossing movie star, surpassing Scarlett Johansson
• Avatar franchise boosts Saldaña's career earnings to $16.8 billion worldwide
• Saldaña is the only actor in the three highest-grossing films of all time

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Actress Scarlett Johansson’s long-standing reign at the global box office appears to have come to an end, with another Hollywood star taking the top spot. As of January 12, Zoe Saldaña has overtaken Johansson to become the highest-grossing movie star of all time, driven largely by the continued success of James Cameron’s Avatar franchise.

The latest film in the series, Avatar: Fire and Ash, crossed $1.23 billion at the worldwide box office on Tuesday. This milestone pushed Saldaña’s cumulative career earnings to an impressive $16.8 billion, according to industry tracker The Numbers.

Johansson, who previously held the title of the highest-grossing actor of all time, has now slipped to second place with a total gross of $16,435,483,784. Interestingly, she had only reclaimed the top position last summer following the release of Jurassic World Rebirth, which helped her jump from third place to first, surpassing longtime Marvel co-stars Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Downey Jr.

A significant portion of Saldaña’s box office total comes from the Avatar trilogy, in which she plays the central Na’vi character Neytiri. The franchise alone accounts for approximately $6 billion of her overall earnings.

Beyond Avatar, Saldaña has also enjoyed massive success through her role as Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearances in three Star Trek films, and her part in the 2003 blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Notably, she remains the only actor to feature in the three highest-grossing films of all time: Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, and Avatar: The Way of Water.

Also read: Avatar: Fire and Ash Movie Review: James Cameron’s spectacle shines, yet Pandora’s story struggles

Johansson’s box office dominance, meanwhile, has been largely fuelled by her portrayal of Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, in the MCU. Her highest-earning films include Avengers: Endgame ($2.7 billion), Avengers: Infinity War ($2 billion), The Avengers ($1.5 billion), Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.4 billion), Captain America: Civil War ($1.1 billion), Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714 million), and Iron Man 2 ($621 million). Her standalone film, Black Widow (2021), earned $379 million, with its box office performance affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joining Saldaña, Johansson, Jackson and Downey in the top 10 highest-grossing movie stars of all time are Chris Pratt, Tom Cruise, Chris Hemsworth, Vin Diesel, Chris Evans, and Dwayne Johnson.