Zoe Saldana has achieved what no one in the history of cinema has achieved before

It was a dangerous bet: Avatar 2: The Way of Water had to be in the top three to five grossing films in history to avoid losing out. But the risk paid off James Cameron’s sci-fi spectacle is taking cinemas by storm since the start in December 2022 and breaks one record after the other. The film has since grossed $2.045 billion worldwide.

Zoe Saldana returned to her starring role as Na’vi warrior Neytiri for the sequel – and it’s all routine for her. A 2 billion blockbuster is almost part of their everyday life.

Avatar 2 Earnings: This is Zoe Saldana’s record

It’s a staggering number, and it dwarfs any record Avatar 2 has set so far: Zoe Saldana has become the first actress to have starred in four films that have grossed more than $2 billion, according to the LA Times:

The figures are not adjusted for inflation and are still impressive. The fact that films gross over a billion is a relatively recent phenomenon and of course has a lot to do with it Development of ticket prices to do. The first film to gross over 1 billion worldwide was Avatar director James Cameron’s Titanic in 1997.

Of the 6 films that made $2 billion, five were released in the last 14 years. The only blockbuster from this circle, however, in which Saldana does not play a leading or ensemble role is Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Not just Avatar: Zoe Saldana is one of the most profitable stars of all time

Saldana’s footprint on the blockbuster landscape is massive. With her 30 major lead and ensemble roles alone in, among others, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Star Trek trilogy, the two Guardians of the Galaxy films, the two Avengers films and of course the Avatar double, Saldana has played a total of 13,102 worldwide. $650,626.

This makes her the fourth most profitable star in history, according to The Numbers. That’s the top 5, unsurprisingly consists entirely of MCU stars:

The top 30 also includes stars from the Harry Potter series such as Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. But superstars like Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford and Johnny Depp are also represented.

Avatar 3 launches on December 18, 2024 in theaters – and could then become Zoe Saldana’s fifth 2 billion film.

Avatar 2: Is this the best blockbuster of the last 13 years?

In the current issue of the FILMSTARTS podcast on the screen, moderator Sebastian, editor Pascal and our guest David Hain talk about “Avatar 2: The Way Of Water”. All important questions are clarified: Was it worth the wait? Is the mega blockbuster just technically convincing or are the emotions there too? And what do Nazi zombies on the dark side of Pandora have to do with it?

The screen love is the weekly cinema and film podcast of our colleagues from FILMSTARTS.