Zoe Saldaña is now the highest-grossing actor of all time

Her role in Avatar: Fire And Ash allowed Saldaña to snag the title from Scarlett Johansson.

By Drew Gillis  |  January 13, 2026 | 3:35pm
Photo: Etienne Laurent/The Academy
Film News Zoe Saldaña
Zoe Saldaña is now the highest-grossing actor of all time

When Zoe Saldaña is in a movie, especially if her character is blue or green, it tends to make a lot of money. In fact, it often makes the most money. Saldaña is the only actor to appear in all three of the highest-grossing films of all time: Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, and Avatar: The Way Of Water. Now, as Avatar: Fire And Ash also makes a boatload of money, Variety reports that the actor has officially become the highest-grossing of all time. 

The trade reports that her films have amassed a gross of $15.47 billion, citing site the Numbers. Saldaña passed fellow MCU actors Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson to take the spot. Outside of Endgame and the Avatar films, Avengers: Infinity War and the three Guardians Of The Galaxy films also contributed to the tally, as well as her three appearances as Nyota Uhura in the Star Trek films released between 2009 and 2016, which also grossed over a billion dollars. Saldaña was also in the film that started the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, The Curse Of The Black Pearl, which grossed over $650 million when it opened in 2003. Though her future in the MCU seems iffy, there seems to be a decent chance that there’ll be more Avatar movies coming, so there’s a good chance that we’ll see this tally continue to grow.

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