Scarlett Johansson is 2016's top-grossing movie star

NEW YORK - Scarlett Johansson was named the top-grossing actor of 2016 on Tuesday (Dec 27), thanks to her roles in the superhero movie Captain America: Civil War and the Hollywood satire Hail Caesar.

Forbes said Johansson just edged out her Captain America co-stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey with the box-office earnings of her second 2016 movie, Hail Caesar.

Johansson's movies grossed a leading US$1.2 billion (S$1.7 billion) at the worldwide box office this year, compared with US$1.15 billion for Captain America: Civil War.

Released in May and featuring a conflict between Marvel comic book heroes like Iron Man, Spider-Man, Black Widow and Ant Man, Walt Disney's Captain America was the biggest earner worldwide in 2016, according to data from Box Office Mojo.

Australian actress Margot Robbie, who enjoyed a breakout year, placed fourth with US$1.1 billion thanks to roles in two Warner Bros movies Suicide Squad and The Legend Of Tarzan.

The Forbes list was dominated by superhero and comic book movies, including Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Deadpool.

Britain's Felicity Jones entered the Forbes list for the first time, with roles in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the thriller Inferno and the magical children's story A Monster Calls. She came in ninth with US$805 million.

Forbes made its calculations based on global ticket sales from the films of top Hollywood actors, but it did not count animated movies such as Disney's Finding Dory, the second biggest release of 2016 with US$1.02 billion.