As a star in both the mega-blockbuster "Avengers" and "Avatar" franchises, it figures that Zoe Saldaña has managed to become one of the highest-grossing film stars of all time, despite arguably not attaining the household name status we associate with top tier film stardom. But now, CNN reports that she's reached a career box office milestone that no other actor ever has, with four movies that have crossed the $2 billion margin at the box office.
"Avatar: The Way of Water" just achieved that distinction, joining three other titles in Saldaña's filmography: the original "Avatar" and the last two "Avengers" installments "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame."
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As the only actor to share leading roles with both of the highest-grossing film franchises of our time, Saldaña is uniquely positioned for this box office achievement. And she's not finished yet, with upcoming sequels to "Avatar" as well as "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" set to continue both of her golden goose roles into future installments. "Guardians" won't be a likely contender for the $2 Billion Club (although anything's possible), but if "Avatar 3" manages to do as well as "The Way of Water," Saldaña may be the first actor with five $2 billion grossers to her name.
The 10 Highest Grossing Actors of All Time
Today, Zoe Saldaña is the fourth highest-grossing film actor in history (not adjusted for inflation). Here's the full top 10 list:
- #1: Scarlett Johansson, whose Marvel association has provided the bulk of her filmography's $14.5 billion worldwide total gross.
- #2: Robert Downey, Jr.: The "Iron Man" star who kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe has also benefited from those films' blockbuster grosses, not to mention other good performers across his long career like the "Sherlock Holmes" movies, and his own total worldwide figure comes to a total of $14.4 billion.
- #3: Samuel L. Jackson: He's been in too many iconic films to count, so it's almost surprising that his combined worldwide gross is only $14.38 billion, and not more.
- #4: Zoe Saldaña: The four $2 billion projects to her name make up a significant portion of her career to-date's $12.8 billion at the worldwide box office.
- #5: Chris Hemsworth: The MCU's God of Thunder is very close to the $12 billion mark in his own worldwide gross so far.
- #6: Chris Pratt: Like Saldaña, Chris Pratt has managed to find himself at the center of two big blockbuster franchises more or less concurrently, with leading roles in the MCU and the "Jurassic World" films. All together, he's seen some $11.7 billion in total worldwide grosses so far.
- #7: Tom Cruise: It's taken seven spots but we've finally reached an actor who's been able to hit $11.5 billion in worldwide grosses without the help of the Disney/Marvel empire. It's, of course, Tom Cruise, who's managed to reach that level without ever playing a Marvel superhero – at least not yet.
- #8: Chris Evans: Now we're back in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Chris Evans, also known as Captain America. His total worldwide gross? An impressive $11.3 billion.
- #9: Tom Hanks: Tom Hanks's spot on this list is arguably even more impressive than Cruise's since he isn't an action-adventure star. His worldwide total: $10.7 billion.
- #10: Vin Diesel: Groot from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies also has the "XXX," "Fast and Furious," and "Riddick" franchises to his name, and his total gross is $10.5 billion.
