Scarlett Johansson highest grossing actress in Hollywood

After years of male actors dominating the highest grossing actor list, finally a woman has made it to the top. Scarlett Johansson was revealed to be the highest grossing actor of 2016. After appearing as Black Widow in Captain America: Civil War and as an Esther Williams-type actress in the Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar!, the actress brought in a total of $1.2 billion in ticket sales this year according to Forbes. 

Generally, actors in superhero movies tend to bring in the most money in ticket sales which is confirmed in Forbes’ top ten list: Chris Evans ($1.15 billion), Robert Downey Jr. ($1.15 billion), Margot Robbie ($1.1 billion), Amy Adams ($1.04 billion), Ben Affleck ($1.02 billion), Henry Cavill ($870 million), Ryan Reynolds ($820 million), and Will Smith ($875 million). The only actor on the top ten list to not appear in a superhero movie was Felicity Jones with 805 million for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. 

According to Business Insider, Dwayne Johnson would be included in the list if it included ticket sales from animated movies. Johnson grossed enough from his voice-over work in Moana to put him on the list. However, Johansson also lent her voice to the animated movie Sing and The Jungle Book. Forbes, however, does not count voice-work in their tally. 

Though Johansson is on top this year, it’s unlikely that she will have the same fate in 2017. She is starring in the movie Ghost in the Shell which has already become a source of controversy since the character she is playing was originally Japanese in the manga series and the 1995 anime film of the same name. She is, however, also starring in the comedy Rock That Body along with Zoë Kravitz, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, and Ilana Glazer which looks more promising than Ghost in the Shell. Still, a woman leading a list historically dominated by men should inspire women everywhere.