LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- American actress Scarlett Johansson garnered the top place on Forbes' 2018 list of the world's highest-paid actresses released Thursday.
Johansson, 33, raked in 40.5 million U.S. dollars in pre-tax earnings from June 1, 2017 to June 1, 2018 thanks to her role as Black Widow in this year's hit movie "Avengers: Infinity War," Forbes said.
Her latest annual income quadrupled her earnings from the previous year, and bumped last year's top-ranked Emma Stone from No. 1, Forbes added.
In fact, Stone did not even make it into the top 10 list this year. She won the top-paid title in 2017 with an income of 26 million dollars, mostly thanks to her Oscar-winning performance in the musical movie "La La Land."
Next on the list is Angelina Jolie with pre-tax earnings of 28 million dollars.
Jolie and her separated husband Brad Pitt have been sparring over child support and a house loan in the latest development of their long drawn-out divorce.
Jennifer Aniston came in third place with 19.5 million dollars, making most of her money from endorsements of products and Emirates airlines.
Aniston, 49, "still earns big bucks 14 years after the conclusion of Friends," the popular sitcom series in the 1990s, Forbes said.
Jennifer Lawrence and Reese Witherspoon claimed fourth and fifth place respectively, with a pre-tax income of 18 million dollars and 16.5 million dollars.
The rest of the top 10 are Mila Kunis, Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Melissa McCarthy and Gal Gadot.
Together, the world's 10 highest-paid actresses tallied a combined 186 million dollars between June 1, 2017 and June 1, 2018, before fees and taxes, Forbes said.
In comparison, the cumulative total is 172.5 million dollars in 2017, it added.
Forbes said the lack of female characters in film "means that there are fewer opportunities for female stars to earn big bucks."
This year, only two actresses exceeded the 20-million-dollar mark, down from three in 2017 and four in 2016, Forbes said.
