MELISSA MCCARTHY has overtaken Scarlett Johansson in Forbes’ annual rich list.

    McCarthy earned US$33m before tax between June 2015 and June 2016, making her the world’s second-highest paid actress, behind Jennifer Lawrence.

    Johansson, who was placed second last year, dropped to third, earning US$25m across the year.

    It tops off a busy year for McCarthy, which saw her appear in the all-female “Ghostbusters” reboot, as well as “The Boss,” which topped the U.S. box office.

    Johansson has appeared in “Captain America: Civil War,” the remake of “The Jungle Book” and the Coen brothers’ film “Hail Ceasar!” over the last year.

    Forbes reported Lawrence earned US$46m before tax over 12 months to make her the world’s highest-paid actress for the second year running.

    She appeared in the last film in “The Hunger Games” franchise and the Oscar-nominated “Joy” during that time.

    Former “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston’s earnings of US$21m scored her fourth place while Chinese actress Fan Bingbing was fifth with her annual takings of US$17m.

    The only new addition to this year’s list was Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone, who earned US$10m to take 10th place.

    According to Forbes, Padukone earns considerably less than her Hollywood counterparts for her on-screen roles, but supplements her income with multiple lucrative endorsements.

    Charlize Theron, Amy Adams, Julia Roberts and Mila Kunis completed the top 10. (SD-Agencies)