Zoe Saldaña Becomes Hollywood's Highest-Grossing Actor of All Time, Surpassing Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson
n a milestone that redefines box office dominance and reshapes the conversation about Hollywood's most bankable stars, Zoe Saldaña has officially become the highest-grossing actor of all time. The 47-year-old Academy Award winner's films have now earned a staggering $15.47 billion worldwide, according to data from The Numbers, surpassing fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe stars Scarlett Johansson ($15.4 billion) and Samuel L. Jackson ($14.6 billion) to claim the crown.
The historic achievement comes on the heels of Avatar: Fire and Ash, which has grossed $1.23 billion globally since its December 2025 release, propelling Saldaña past her closest competitors in a record that seemed unassailable just months ago. In a heartfelt video posted to social media Tuesday evening, a beaming Saldaña expressed her gratitude for the journey that led to this unprecedented moment in cinema history.
The Record in Numbers
Total Box Office: $15.47 billion worldwide (as of January 2026)
Previous Record Holders: Scarlett Johansson ($15.4B), Samuel L. Jackson ($14.6B)
Avatar: Fire and Ash: $1.23 billion and counting
Films Over $2 Billion: Four films (a feat no other actor has achieved)
Top 3 Grossing Films Ever: Saldaña has starred in all three
Major Franchises: Avatar, MCU (Guardians of the Galaxy), Star Trek
"This Accomplishment Belongs to All of Us"
"I just want to express my sincerest gratitude for the extraordinary journey that has led me to become the highest-grossing film actor of all time today," Saldaña said in her video message, her signature warmth and humility evident. "An achievement made possible entirely, entirely by the incredible franchises and the collaborators that I have been fortunate enough to be a part of, to every director who placed their trust in me."
Saldaña specifically thanked the visionary filmmakers who shaped her career: J.J. Abrams, who cast her as Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek reboot trilogy; Joe and Anthony Russo, who directed her as Gamora in multiple MCU films including Avengers: Endgame; James Gunn, who helmed the beloved Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy; and James Cameron, whose faith in her as Neytiri has defined two decades of her career.
"Your unwavering support, passion and loyalty are the true foundation of this milestone. None of this exists without you showing up time and time again with open hearts and enthusiasm. This accomplishment belongs to all of us, and I'm deeply grateful and profoundly humbled. And may the next record breaker be another woman!"
Her message to fans worldwide carried particular resonance, acknowledging that box office records aren't built by actors alone but by audiences who invest their time, money, and emotions in the stories being told. The closing line of her statement, expressing hope that the next record breaker would be another woman, speaks to Saldaña's awareness of what this achievement represents for female actors in an industry still grappling with questions of equity and representation.
The Franchises That Built an Empire
Saldaña's ascent to the top of Hollywood's box office hierarchy isn't the result of a single blockbuster or even a single franchise. It's the culmination of strategic career choices across multiple cinematic universes that have collectively dominated global cinema for two decades.
The Avatar franchise alone accounts for an astronomical portion of her total. The original 2009 Avatar remains the highest-grossing film of all time with $2.923 billion. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) is the third-highest-grossing film ever with $2.32 billion. And now Avatar: Fire and Ash has added another $1.23 billion to her tally, with two more installments planned for 2029 and 2031.
Her role as Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe brought her into another of cinema's most successful franchises. Avengers: Endgame (2019), the second-highest-grossing film of all time at $2.799 billion, features Saldaña in a pivotal role. The three Guardians of the Galaxy films collectively earned over $2.5 billion worldwide, with Gamora serving as the emotional anchor of the trilogy's found-family narrative.
Saldaña's Billion-Dollar Performances
Films Over $2 Billion:
Avatar (2009) - $2.923 billion
Avengers: Endgame (2019) - $2.799 billion
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) - $2.32 billion
Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) - $1.23 billion (ongoing)
Other Major Franchises:
Star Trek trilogy - Over $1.3 billion combined
Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy - Over $2.5 billion combined
The Star Trek reboot trilogy, while smaller in scale than Avatar or the MCU, demonstrated Saldaña's range and helped establish her as a bankable star capable of carrying major franchises. Her Uhura brought depth and agency to a character who had been underserved in previous iterations, earning praise from fans of the original series and newcomers alike.
More Than Box Office: The Oscar Winner's Year of Triumph
What makes Saldaña's achievement even more remarkable is that it comes during a year when she also reached the pinnacle of artistic recognition. In March 2025, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Jacques Audiard's Emilia Pérez, making history as the first Dominican-American to win an Oscar.
The audacious musical, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, earned Saldaña a clean sweep of awards season accolades including a SAG Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice Award. It was a performance that showcased dimensions of her talent that massive franchise films, for all their spectacle and heart, rarely get to explore.
The Dual Achievement: Saldaña now holds both the commercial and critical crowns simultaneously. She's the highest-grossing actor of all time and a recent Oscar winner, a combination that's exceedingly rare in modern Hollywood. It positions her uniquely in an industry that often treats box office success and artistic credibility as mutually exclusive achievements.
"It feels really good," Saldaña recently told Variety about having "Oscar winner" as her new prefix. "My husband is so funny. He has this joke; he goes, 'Z, you can't do anything right now without people announcing you as Academy Award winner. You can't rob a bank, because it'll be like, Academy Award winner...' I'm like, 'Oh my God,'" she said, laughing. "But it's true. I'm honored. I'm very happy. I'm also like, 'OK, let's continue to work.'"
The Performance Capture Revolution
A significant portion of Saldaña's box office dominance comes from performance capture roles, particularly as Neytiri in the Avatar franchise. This technology, pioneered by James Cameron, allows actors to perform characters that are then digitally rendered, creating performances that are simultaneously fantastical and deeply human.
"The reason why this world is so real to so many people is because the acting was the most important element for Jim," Saldaña explained in a recent interview. "Performance capture gives the actor the ability not to have to rely so much on all the things that can sometimes be very distracting in regular live-action. Performance capture gives you the gift of connection and putting all of your heart and all of your energy into that scene, into that moment."
Her embrace of this technology has been crucial to her success. While some actors view motion capture as a lesser form of performance, Saldaña has championed it as a pure expression of an actor's craft, unencumbered by concerns about camera angles, lighting, or physical appearance. Through Neytiri, through the green-skinned Gamora, she's demonstrated that emotional truth transcends the form delivering it.
Representation and Cultural Significance
As an Afro-Latina woman born to a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother, Saldaña's achievement carries weight beyond the numbers. She's reached the summit of Hollywood's commercial hierarchy at a time when conversations about representation, diversity, and equity in the industry remain urgent and ongoing.
Her mother's influence has been foundational to her success. "She was always reminding me that I mattered," Saldaña told CNBC in 2019. "She was like, 'Don't forget about you...Don't forget about your happiness. Don't forget about your beauty. Don't forget about your opinion.'"
That sense of self-worth, instilled early and reinforced throughout her career, has allowed Saldaña to navigate an industry that hasn't always made space for women who look like her. Her success opens doors and expands possibilities for the actors who come after her.
The Road Ahead: Records Still to Break
With Avatar 4 slated for December 2029 and Avatar 5 planned for December 2031, Saldaña's hold on the record is likely to strengthen significantly in the coming years. She's also confirmed to appear in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027), with speculation about a potential Guardians of the Galaxy return in 2028.
If the next two Avatar films perform anywhere near the level of the first three, Saldaña could conceivably push her total box office earnings past $20 billion, a threshold that would seem almost impossible to surpass. Even if the Avengers films add "only" a billion or so each to her total, she'll be extending her lead with every major release.
Future Projections: Conservative estimates suggest that if Avatar 4 and 5 each gross $1.5 billion (lower than any previous Avatar film), and the two Avengers films add another $1 billion combined to her total, Saldaña would surpass $19 billion by 2032. More optimistic projections, based on the franchise's historical performance, could see her approaching or exceeding $22 billion.
The Bigger Picture: What This Record Means
Box office records, by their nature, are temporary. Someone will eventually surpass Saldaña's total, whether it's a younger star building their own franchise empire or an established actor getting cast in the next generation of blockbusters. But the significance of this particular record extends beyond its eventual obsolescence.
Saldaña has proven that an Afro-Latina woman can be the face of the biggest franchises in cinema history. She's demonstrated that performance capture work deserves to be recognized as legitimate acting worthy of both commercial success and critical acclaim. She's shown that longevity and strategic career choices matter as much as individual star power.
Her portfolio spans sci-fi epics, superhero blockbusters, prestige dramas, and everything in between. She's worked with auteurs and commercial directors, in massive ensemble casts and intimate character pieces. The $15.47 billion isn't just a number; it's a testament to versatility, work ethic, and an unwavering commitment to the craft.
The Comparison to Jackson and Johansson
It's worth noting that Saldaña's closest competitors represent different paths to box office dominance. Samuel L. Jackson's $14.6 billion comes from an extraordinary breadth of roles across decades, with the MCU providing a significant but not overwhelming portion of his total. His prolific output and willingness to appear in everything from Marvel blockbusters to independent films created a career unlike any other.
Scarlett Johansson's $15.4 billion is heavily weighted toward the MCU, where she played Black Widow across multiple films, but also includes diverse work in prestige dramas, comedies, and other action franchises. Her path to the top was paved significantly by one iconic character across a decade of films.
Saldaña's approach splits the difference. She's built her total across three major franchises (Avatar, MCU, Star Trek) rather than relying primarily on one, but hasn't scattered her efforts across as many disparate projects as Jackson. It's a model that maximizes box office impact while maintaining narrative continuity and character development across long-running series.
Industry Impact and Legacy
The announcement of Saldaña's record has generated celebration across the industry, particularly among actors and filmmakers from underrepresented communities who see her success as opening doors for more diverse casting in major franchises.
James Cameron, in a statement celebrating her achievement, said, "Zoe has been the heart and soul of the Avatar franchise from day one. Her performance as Neytiri is why audiences around the world have connected so deeply with Pandora and its people. This record is well-deserved recognition of her extraordinary talent."
The Russo Brothers, who directed her in multiple MCU films, added, "Zoe brings authenticity and emotional depth to every role, whether she's playing an alien warrior or a grieving daughter. She's one of the most talented actors we've ever worked with, and this achievement is a testament to what happens when talent meets opportunity."
Final Thoughts: A Crown Well-Earned
In her social media message, Saldaña closed with a sentiment that captures both her gratitude and her vision for the future: "May the next record breaker be another woman." It's a generous statement from someone who just reached the pinnacle, one that speaks to understanding that her success is part of a larger story about representation and possibility in Hollywood.
The little girl from New Jersey who grew up bilingual, who studied ballet before turning to acting, who faced rejection and doubt on her way to stardom, is now the highest-grossing actor in cinema history. She got there by making smart choices, working with visionary filmmakers, and bringing her full self to every role regardless of whether her face was visible on screen.
"Something so special takes time. I get to feel very honored that I am a part of something that stands the test of time."
As Avatar: Fire and Ash continues its theatrical run and future installments of her franchises move through development and production, Zoe Saldaña's box office total will only grow. But the record she's set today already cements her place in film history as a transformative figure who redefined what's possible for women, for actors of color, and for anyone who's ever been told they don't fit Hollywood's vision of a movie star.
The numbers tell a story of unprecedented commercial success. But the real story is about an artist who stayed true to herself, chose her collaborators wisely, and proved that representation isn't just the right thing to do morally—it's also extraordinary business. Hollywood's highest-grossing actor of all time is a 47-year-old Afro-Latina woman, an Academy Award winner, and a reminder that the industry's future belongs to those bold enough to claim it.
And she's not done yet.
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About the Author
Kathia Woods is an entertainment journalist and Tomatometer-approved critic with 15 years of experience. She serves as Arts & Entertainment Co-Chair for the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) at the national level and is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association. Follow her entertainment coverage at Cup of Soul Show.