Scarlett Johansson Photo:IC

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

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

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

Australian actress Margot Robbie, who enjoyed a break-out year, placed fourth with $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, thriller Inferno and magical children's story A Monster Calls.

Jones came in ninth place with $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.