Zoe Saldaña Just Passed Samuel L. Jackson in a Massive Box Office Milestone

Zoe Saldaña has reached a major milestone in her career. She has now passed Samuel L. Jackson to become the second highest-grossing actor of all time at the global box office. This shift comes as her latest Avatar film continues to bring in strong numbers worldwide.

Box office data from The Numbers shows that Saldaña’s films, counting only lead roles and lead ensemble roles, have earned close to $15 billion so far. That total places her ahead of Jackson, whose movies sit a bit over $14.6 billion.

The only actor still ahead of Saldaña is Scarlett Johansson, whose box office total is just above $15.4 billion, also based on figures from The Numbers.

The gap between Saldaña and Johansson is getting smaller. Avatar: Fire and Ash is still playing in theaters and has already crossed $760 million worldwide. With more time in cinemas and future Avatar movies already planned, Saldaña’s box office total is expected to keep rising.

Saldaña has played Neytiri since the first Avatar movie came out in 2009. The role has become one of the most important parts of her career. She has also made it clear that she is happy to continue playing the character in future films.

While speaking with Entertainment Tonight, she was asked if she was ready to return for Avatar 4 and Avatar 5. She answered, “Every time. Yes…As long as the fans keep connecting to this and they keep wanting it to come back, then we will continue to do that, obviously with the support of Disney.”

The Avatar series has been a huge success at the box office. The first film remains the highest-grossing movie ever made, while Avatar: The Way of Water also earned more than $2 billion worldwide. Avatar: Fire and Ash is following the same path, adding hundreds of millions to Saldaña’s already massive total.

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