When Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey opens later this month, Lupita Nyong’o will arrive with one of the more quietly impressive box office résumés in Hollywood. Across franchises, original hits and studio tentpoles, films featuring the Oscar winner have generated roughly $7.6 billion at the worldwide box office.

From Oscar Winner To Franchise Mainstay

Nyong’o burst onto the scene with 12 Years a Slave, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The Steve McQueen drama grossed $187.7 million worldwide on a $20 million budget, and her next career moves took her into some of the biggest franchises in the business.

She joined Lucasfilm’s Star Wars sequel trilogy as Maz Kanata. The Force Awakens grossed $2.07 billion worldwide, The Last Jedi brought in over $1.3 billion globally, and The Rise of Skywalker closed out the trilogy at around $1.08 billion worldwide. Combined, the trilogy brought in approximately $4.5 billion worldwide.

She also became a key part of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther franchise, playing Nakia in both films. The first Black Panther finished its run with $1.3 billion worldwide, while Black Panther: Wakanda Forever finaled at $859 million globally.

Nyong’o also voiced Raksha in Disney’s The Jungle Book, which finished its theatrical run with $966 million worldwide, another commercial heavyweight for the actress.

Success Beyond Established Franchises

While much of her box office haul comes from billion-dollar franchises, Nyong’o has also delivered strong results in original stories. Jordan Peele’s Us wrapped its run with roughly $255 million worldwide against a modest $20 million budget, with Nyong’o earning widespread acclaim for her dual performance.

More recently, she headlined A Quiet Place: Day One, which grossed $261 million worldwide and marked the biggest opening weekend in the horror franchise’s history.

Those films demonstrated that Nyong’o could help drive audiences to theaters outside of superhero and sci-fi franchises, giving her one of the more balanced commercial résumés among today’s A-list actors.

Nyong’o’s Role In Christopher Nolan’s New Epic

The Odyssey marks Nyong’o’s first collaboration with Nolan, whose last release, Oppenheimer, finished its theatrical run with nearly $976 million worldwide. She joins an ensemble that includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron as Universal prepares one of 2026’s biggest releases.