Hollywood has a new queen bee, and the money made from her movie portfolio outmatches the market caps of billion-dollar companies like Alaska Airlines and H&R Block. Academy Award-winning star Zoe Saldaña was just crowned the highest-grossing actor in Hollywood, surpassing Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson after a breakout year of entertainment.
The movies Saldaña has starred in as a leading actress have earned a staggering $15.47 billion—ranking her above every other actor in the world—according to recent data from The Numbers. Following the immense $1.08 billion global success of Avatar: Fire and Ash, she finally overtook her Marvel peer Johansson ($15.4 billion) and Hollywood icon Jackson ($14.6 billion), who ranked above her in 2024.
The 47-year-old is also the first woman in Hollywood to have starred in four projects that have amassed more than $2 billion globally. And 2025 was her year—aside from the success of Fire and Ash, she won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in Emilia Pérez, becoming the first Dominican American to win an Academy Award.
Saldaña took to the internet to celebrate her most recent milestone. “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 an Instagram video. “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.”
