The Oscar-winning actress‘ three „Avatar“ films and five „Marvel“ films have put her atop the all-time actor charts.<\/b>
\nRoughly six months after Scarlett Johannson became Hollywood\u2019s highest grossing actor in box office history, Zoe Salda\u00f1a has retaken the crown thanks to her third performance as the fierce Neytiri in James Cameron\u2019s \u201cAvatar: Fire and Ash.\u201d
With $1.23 billion grossed at the global box office and counting, \u201cAvatar: Fire and Ash\u201d has brought Salda\u00f1a\u2019s lifetime grosses in films in which she has a lead role or lead ensemble role to $15.46 billion, passing the $15.06 billion by Johannson, according to box office website The Numbers.
Behind the two women in the top five are Samuel L. Jackson ($14.6 billion), Robert Downey Jr. ($14.3 billion) and Chris Pratt ($14.1 billion). Of course, the common thread between all five of these actors is that they have or had prominent roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Salda\u00f1a playing Gamora in the \u201cGuardians of the Galaxy\u201d trilogy and in the $2 billion-plus hit \u201cAvengers: Infinity War.\u201d
Gamora was killed off in \u201cInfinity War,\u201d but Salda\u00f1a appeared in \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d as a younger version of the her from a different timeline, so that film\u2019s $2.7 billion total is included in her total. Now the \u201cAvatar\u201d series set to pass the $6.5 billion mark in lifetime grosses this coming weekend.
What roles get classified as a supporting role as opposed to a lead ensemble role can be disputed. Downey Jr.\u2019s Oscar-winning performance in \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d for example, is counted by The Numbers as a supporting role, so that film\u2019s $975 million box office cume is not counted on this list.
But his upcoming performance as Doctor Doom in \u201cAvengers: Doomsday\u201d will almost certainly count as a lead ensemble performance, so unless Johansson makes a surprise return as Black Widow in next winter\u2019s holiday blockbuster, the former Iron Man may pass Salda\u00f1a on this list one year from now.
Or perhaps Pratt, Salda\u00f1a\u2019s co-star in the \u201cGuardians\u201d films, could take the top spot in the near future. While Pratt has not been announced to return in \u201cAvengers: Doomsday,\u201d he is set to star this spring in \u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie,\u201d which is expected to match or exceed the $1.36 billion total of its predecessor, \u201cThe Super Mario Bros. Movie.\u201d
Salda\u00f1a is set to play Neytiri again in two more \u201cAvatar\u201d films, currently slated for release in 2029 and 2031.<\/p>\n