Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/October 24 to 30, 2021

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (October 24 to 30, 2021) edit

Prepared with commentary by TheJoebro64, Igordebraga, SSSB

⭠ Last week's report

The planet known as Dune couldn't get more views than the country known as India.

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes/about
1 Puneeth Rajkumar   3,250,947   Rajkumar, nicknamed "Appu" after his first leading role, died suddenly on October 29 at the relatively young age of 45. The son of #5, Appu was one of the highest-paid and most-famous actors of Kannada cinema, and appeared as a leading man in 29 films. His state funeral was conducted on October 31 and was reportedly attended by over a million fans.
2 Dune (2021 film)   2,493,804   The long-awaited adaptation of #4, directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring #7 among others, finally hit American theaters last weekend. As of this writing, it's at the top of the box office and has grossed almost $252 million worldwide. It's been successful enough to guarantee a sequel, which will adapt the second half of the novel. (As an aside, I saw it on October 30 and can confirm that it's much better than the first adaptation, even if it's a bit slow and bogged down by exposition.)
3 Squid Game   1,235,991   For those who already saw the Korean Netflix phenomenon and want more, maybe this gem from Saturday Night Live could fill in your share.
4 Dune (novel)   1,216,142   He is destined to be a King
He rules over everything
In the land called planet Dune
5 Dr. Rajkumar   979,975   #1's father, an idol of Kannada cinema who eventually got an honorary doctorate from the University of Mysore.
6 Deaths in 2021   847,070   "I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens."
7 Timothée Chalamet   791,922   Chalamet might've built a name for himself in indies such as that gay romance with peaches and Greta Gerwig's two movies, but he started his career in Interstellar and now actually goes to space by becoming Paul Atreides, protagonist of #2. And the same year the Dune sequel arrives will be the one where Chalamet plays Willy Wonka in an origin movie for the chocolatier.
8 Eternals (film)   779,690   Chloé Zhao's venture into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) opens in less than a week, and while it's expected to make decent money, it's been beset by a bit of bad press. Unfortunately for Zhao and Marvel Studios, Eternals hasn't left many critics impressed thanks to a confusing plot and long runtime. It broke Thor: The Dark World's eight-year record to become the worst-rated MCU film on Rotten Tomatoes, and is the first MCU film to earn a "Rotten" rating on the site. (Who had Zack Snyder making a better superhero film than the director of Nomadland on their 2021 bingo card? I didn't.) Eternals scoring lower than expected likely isn't going to have a huge effect on the MCU juggernaut (especially with Spider-Man: No Way Home just around the corner), but it brings an end to an astonishing 13-year streak of positively-rated films.
9 ICC Men's T20 World Cup   722,078   Back to subjects that interest India is a cricket tournament, currently being held in the Arabic peninsula.
10 Halloween   655,667   The pandemic is still at large, but with vaccinations and such, maybe now there can be trick-or-treating and parties on All Hallows Eve.
11 Claude Cahun   646,530   Cahun, a surrealist artist known for embracing gender nonconformity, was honored with a Google Doodle on October 25, which would have been her 127th birthday. Known for challenging gender norms and criticizing the German occupation of the Channel Islands (which nearly got her killed), Cahun did not want to be famous and, as such, her work wasn't widely recognized until the 1990s.
12 UFC 267   629,308   Another mixed martial arts event. This one was on October 30 in Abu Dhabi.
13 Alec Baldwin   627,864   In 2019, the star of many movies plus TV's 30 Rock had enough bad decisions in his life that there was plenty of material for a Comedy Central Roast. Well, two years later Baldwin caused something that is absolutely no laughing matter, as he accidentally fired what was supposed to be a empty gun and caused the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while filming Rust.
14 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup   582,681   While on sports in Garfield's preferred destination for sending cute kittens (plus two other United Arab Emirates and the capital of Oman), a less violent alternative to #12 in the latest edition of #9.
15 Cristiano Ronaldo   576,672   After Ronaldo moved back to Manchester Utd he made this report for five consecutive weeks. I'm not sure why he is on it now - it may have something to do with their poor run of form of late? (a run which ended on this report's cut-off date)
16 James Michael Tyler   559,364   Earlier this year, Friends: The Reunion only had a brief appearance from the portrayer of Gunther, the quirky manager of the café Central Perk (who indeed only got the role because he could operate a espresso machine). Some time later Tyler revealed he had been fighting a cancer for years, and now it has taken his life at 59, earning homages from the Friends cast, crew and fans.
17 Dune (franchise)   554,642   After Frank Herbert wrote that book about people fighting over a ball of sand filled with worms at #4, he continued it with five sequels, and his son Brian Herbert has steadily been the co-author to various returns to that universe. After a divisive if not reviled first film adaptation and the better received TV versions Frank Herbert's Dune and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (not to mention computer games), Dune has made it back for the big screen in #2.
18 You (TV series)   526,658   The third season of the Netflix series about the unlikeable serial killer we're supposed to like who falls in love with #25 was released on October 15, and people still seem to be interested in it - this is the second week in a row it's been on this list. Netflix has green-lit a fourth season, so maybe we'll see it on the list again next year.
19 No Time to Die   518,079   A fifth consecutive appearance for the most recent James Bond film, whose send-off to Daniel Craig left quite the emotional impact on viewers, and whose debut in China - having just taken from atop the box office a local three hour epic that managed to make near $900 million! - will finally make things break even for the studio.
20 Shaheen Afridi   507,455   India's game against neighbor Pakistan in #14 brought attention to that team's star player (who in an unfortunate coincidence shares a name with a cyclone that hit one of the host cities).
21 Elon Musk   487,160   Sigh... what has he done now?

I'm assuming the reason Mr. Musk is on this list is that his net worth surpassed US$300 billion on October 29, making him the richest person in history. The timing of this was pretty rich (pun intended) because it happened right after US lawmakers proposed a billionaires' tax that would definitely take away some of that wealth.

22 Halloween Kills   462,709  

Baby Driver quotes aside, in spite of mixed reviews this slasher film has been making a killing at the box office, easily recouping its $20 million budget many times over. But hearing that next year's follow-up Halloween Ends is seemingly set in the present day, post-COVID and all, is certainly a headscratcher.

23 Puneeth Rajkumar filmography   450,514   Back to our #1, his body of work, that started with a film appearance at just six months old, and his older brother.
24 Shiva Rajkumar   440,814  
25 Victoria Pedretti   430,351 Keeping off the list the first film adaptation of #4 and one of #2's 2019's stars (although she only has six minutes of screentime, given the movie ends right as her character really enters the plot) is the female lead of #18. If only we could get an image of her on Commons!


 
Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (October 24 to 30, 2021)

Exclusions edit

  • This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.