Zoe Saldana.Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Zoe Saldañais in a box office league of her own.
Over the weekend, the actress’s latest movie,Avatar: The Way of Water,surpassed $2 billion at the worldwide box office, making Saldaña, 44, the first actor to have four movies earn more than $2 billion. Her other three titles to reach the milestone are 2009’sAvatar, 2019’sAvengers: Endgameand 2018’sAvengers: Infinity War.
Additionally,Avatar: The Way of WaterdirectorJames Cameronis now the first director to have three films over $2 billion, the other two being the firstAvatarand 1997’sTitanic(whilewill be re-released in 3Dthis Valentine’s Day).
Saldaña plays Neytiri in theAvatarfilms, which havemore sequels on the way, and shenext plays her Marvel Cinematic Universe characterGamora inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, in theaters May 5.
Last year, the actress, who also starred in the recentStar Trekmovies, toldWomen’s Wear Dailythat shesometimes felt creatively “stuck” doing franchise films.
Avatar: The Way of Water(2022).20th Century Studios
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“I feel that for the last 10 years of my life, I’ve been just stuck. I felt stuck doing these franchises,” Saldana said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunities that they provided, from collaborating with amazing directors and getting to meet cast members that I consider friends and getting to play a role that fans, especially children, love.”
Later in December, she clarified those remarks, reiterating that she is “grateful” for the major movie projects.
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“I feel grateful and like the luckiest girl in this town knowing that I was invited to join films with special directors in a special cast,” she toldDeadline. “And they resonated with people so much so that we get a chance to come back again and come back another time. If anything, I’ve reaped all the benefits of that, I’ve gained friends. I still have mentors that I call and I lean into.”
She added, “I think thatonce I started my family, it just became really hard for me to sustain both worlds and also then cater to this curiosity of playing other different characters or playing earthlings, you know? But I’m happy in space. I’ve always been happy in space. I relate to people that love space as well.”
Avatar: The Way of Wateris in theaters now.
source: people.com
