How One Actor Quietly Became the Highest-Grossing Movie Star in Hollywood History

For many years, Scarlett Johansson has been one of the most acclaimed actors in Hollywood. Scarlett Johansson’s best movies include Marriage Story, Asteroid City, and the many Marvel Cinematic Universe films she has appeared in. Now, following the release of Jurᴀssic World Rebirth, she has accomplished a box office feat that was likely unimaginable early in her career.

Even though reviews for Jurᴀssic World Rebirth have been quite underwhelming, it has been a major box office success. As of this writing, the newest film in the long-running franchise has grossed $322 million at the worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo). Jurᴀssic World Rebirth’s impressive opening weekend performance has made Scarlett Johansson the highest-grossing actor of all time.

Currently, all of her movies combined have earned over $15.6 billion worldwide. To accomplish this feat, Johansson pᴀssed fellow actress Zoe Saldaña and actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Downey Jr. This is obviously an incredible accomplishment, so let’s take a look at how Johansson became the highest-grossing movie star of all time.

Scarlett Johansson Had A Few Good Box Office Performers Pre-MCU

Johansson Was An Acclaimed Up-And-Coming Actor In The Early 2000s

Johansson started acting at the age of nine and appeared in several projects as a child performer. While she received acclaim for some of her earlier film roles, her first true breakout was Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, in which she shared the screen with Bill Murray.

Lost in Translation grossed an impressive $118 million at the worldwide box office and paved the way for Johansson to star in several critically acclaimed movies in the early 2000s. In addition to Coppola’s movie, Johansson also starred in critical and box office successes like The Prestige and Vicky Cristina Barcelona in the early 2000s, years before she joined the MCU.

During this time, Johansson also appeared in more commercial films like Michael Bay’s The Island and voiced Princess Mindy in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which certainly helped the actress establish herself as a box office draw. However, everything obviously changed for Johansson when she appeared as Black Widow in Iron Man 2.

Playing Black Widow Completely Changed Scarlett Johansson’s Box Office Appeal

The MCU Is The Most Successful Movie Franchise Of All Time

Johansson becoming the highest-grossing movie star of all time is largely due to the fact that she joined the MCU very early. Even though the MCU was already building towards The Avengers by the time Johansson came onboard, nobody could have predicted just how big the superhero franchise would become.

Black Widow wasn’t a mᴀssive box office success since it was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its $379 million haul still helped Johansson become the highest-grossing movie star of all time.

From 2010 to 2021, Johansson starred as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in nine MCU movies. She made her debut in Iron Man 2 and also starred in two Captain America films, but most notably played an integral role in every Avengers movie. All of these films were very successful, but Avengers: Endgame, in particular, is the second highest-grossing movie of all time.

Even though her character died in Avengers: Endgame, Johansson also received a standalone superhero movie in 2021. Unfortunately, Black Widow wasn’t a mᴀssive box office success since it was released during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its $379 million haul still helped Johansson become the highest-grossing movie star of all time.

Black Widow Fame Helped Scarlett Johansson Headline Other Successful Box Office Hits

The MCU Created Many Opportunities For Johansson

Without her MCU stardom, it’s highly likely that Johansson’s other movies during this era of her career wouldn’t have been nearly as successful. After proving that she was an amazing action star in Iron Man 2 and The Avengers, Johansson got the chance to headline her very own action movie, 2014’s Lucy.

Even though Lucy was not based on anything, and was therefore not a popular IP, the film managed to gross a spectacular $469 million at the box office. Moreso than many other movies in her career, Lucy proved that Johansson was a bonafide movie star that studios could feel safe betting on. Therefore, Lucy and her ongoing MCU films during this time led to countless opportunities for the actress.

Throughout the 2010s and 2020s, Johansson has lended her voice to the Sing movies, the live-action Jungle Book adaptation, and has also collaborated with several acclaimed directors, such as Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. Therefore, it’s clear that Johansson has created a wildly successful career for herself after earning worldwide recognition.

Jurᴀssic World Rebirth Was A Smart Box Office Bet For Scarlett Johansson

Jurᴀssic World Is Johansson’s Newest Franchise

Since Black Widow was Johansson’s last MCU movie, it was time for a new era in her career. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the actress to join another successful franchise. In Jurᴀssic World Rebirth, Johansson plays Zora Bennett, a covert operation expert who leads a mission to an island overrun with dangerous dinosaurs.

Even though the last few Jurᴀssic World movies have been disliked by audiences and critics, the franchise seems to be unkillable at the box office. The previous three Jurᴀssic World movies all made over $1 billion at the box office, and based on its opening weekend haul, it seems likely that Rebirth will also achieve this feat.

Because of the success of the previous movies, joining the cast of Jurᴀssic World Rebirth made perfect sense for Johansson. It’s great to see the actress in more auteur-driven films, but after her time in the MCU, there’s nothing quite like watching Johansson in major blockbusters. Therefore, after Jurᴀssic World Rebirth pushed her to be the highest-grossing movie star in the world, I can’t wait to see what Scarlett Johansson does next.