Star Wars: Harrison Ford is now the highest ever grossing actor at the US box office

Former box office champion Samuel L. Jackson now tails the Han Solo actor

Box office titan Harrison Ford (Getty)

The box office force is strong in Harrison Ford who has become the US box office's highest-grossing actor following the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

This feat comes after the news that JJ Abrams' blockbuster sequel became the biggest-selling film of all time in the States.

After amassing the takings of Ford's 41 films, the Han Solo actor clocks up a total of $4.699 billion; The Force Awakens alone accounts for £764.4 million of his overall haul.

The achievement means that the previous victor Samuel L. Jackson slips into second, with a takings total of $4.626 billion; it's Joss Whedon's Avengers Assemble that leads the pack for him, resulting in a total of $623.4 million.

With sequels to Blade Runner and Indiana Jones in the pipeline, Ford looks set to extend that lead over the coming years despite the ever-busy Jackson due to appear in The Legend of Tarzan and Kong: Skull Island.

The top five highest-grossing actors of all time at the US box office are rounded out by Tom Hanks ($4.334 billion), Morgan Freeman ($4.136 billion) and Eddie Murphy ($3.810 billion).

The only British actors in the top ten are Michael Caine ($3.291 billion) and Gary Oldman ($3.279 billion) who both starred in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.