Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/December 1 to 7, 2019

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Prepared with commentary by Hugsyrup and Igordebraga

Last week's report - Next Week's Report

Every Week Is Exactly The Same

I believe I can see the future, 'cause I repeat the same routine. Or at least readers do, given half the subjects of last week have returned, including the whole top 4 and most of the top 10. Two of the "new" topics are even a return of the race that titles Disney+'s first hit (#4), and another of the royals from The Crown (there are four others!), which was #26 and barely missed the cut last report. So, for things that haven't appeared, there are two Asian multisports events (#5, #16), two 2020 blockbusters (#15, #17), two boxers who fought each other (#20, #23), a football award (#13, #18), an election preview (#19) and a terrible crime (#24).

I can't remember how this got started, but I can tell you exactly how it will end. For the week of December 1 to 7, 2019, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 are:

Rank Article Class Views Image About
1 Jimmy Hoffa   2,289,492
 
The top three spots this week are dominated by one film, and the two main characters in that film; played by Al Pacino and Robert de Niro respectively. Notable for using CGI technology to both age and de-age the two leads to portray them at different times in their lives, it's also notable for being based almost entirely on the questionable account of one of those two individuals. The one that didn't famously disappear, obviously.
2 The Irishman (2019 film)   1,835,586
 
3 Frank Sheeran   1,752,309
 
4 The Mandalorian   1,406,893
 
The first live-action Star Wars TV series has received mixed reviews so far, but it's a bold experiment and probably the only good reason to sign up for yet another streaming subscription, since it's exclusive to Disney+. Featuring Pedro Pascal in the title role, alongside an eclectic cast that includes Werner Herzog and Carl Weathers, it's now up to episode five with three more to come.
5 2019 Southeast Asian Games   877,811
 
The 30th Southeast Asian Games took place from the 30th November to 11th December, in the Philippines, which took over as host last minute (well, in 2015) after Brunei withdrew from the role.
6 Richard Jewell   804,072
 
This entry's story is one that will make you both sad and angry. A genuine hero whose actions at the Centennial Olympic Park bombing saved lives, he was then hounded by press and law enforcement and treated as a suspect on the flimsiest evidence. What brings him back into the public consciousness this week is the release, on 13th December, of Richard Jewell the film about his story.
7 Elizabeth II   747,579
 
Like the other royals on this list, it's a little hard to tell how much of the UK Head of State's appearance in Wikipedia's searches is down to her reappearance in Netflix's The Crown (this time played by Olivia Colman), how much is down to the amusing moment when she appeared to tell off her daughter (this week's #14) for refusing to meet Donald Trump, and how much is down to her position as mother of a man now best known for coming up with some of the world's least convincing alibis.
8 Deaths in 2019   726,230
 
It'll never stop being interesting, will it. And, with only a handful more weeks for late additions to this article, perhaps it's more interesting than ever.
9 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon   721,341
 
Another The Crown-based appearance on the list. Princess Margaret, recast for season 3 along with the rest of the cast, was portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter. And at least we can be sure she's mainly here due to the popular Netflix show and not for how she dealt with either Donald Trump or Jeffrey Epstein.
10 Knives Out (film)   633,007
 
After a dark sci-fi actioner and the bleakest Star Wars ever, Rian Johnson went for a lighter route with Knives Out, a comedic murder mystery starring Ana de Armas (pictured) as the caretaker of the victim, Christopher Plummer, among stars such as Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon and Toni Collette. Following much critical praise to the writing and acting, Knives Out is also keeping itself strong at the box office, with two straight weeks as runner-up to a certain Disney behemoth (#12).
11 Russell Bufalino   620,617
 
The third main character of our #2, played there by Joe Pesci.
12 Frozen II   591,705
 
Six years after Elsa took over the childhood conscious and also stuck "Let it Go" to our heads, she's back in theaters, and made over $900 million in just a month!
13 Ballon d'Or   506,484
 
France Football gives this "Golden Ball" since 1956 to the best footballer in Europe (though not necessarily from the Old Continent).
14 Anne, Princess Royal   505,661
 
Has the daughter of this week's #7 and #21 appeared on this list due to her scene-stealing portrayal by Erin Doherty in season 3 of The Crown? Or because in November she topped the list of most hard-working Royals? Or because, with her brother under scrutiny owing to his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, there's renewed curiosity about this famously down-to-earth and reliable Royal? Or perhaps because, to the delight of many onlookers, she appeared to deliberately snub US President Donald Trump on a recent visit to Buckingham Palace. Or perhaps it's all of the above.
15 Black Widow (2020 film)   474,752
 
After a year with three billion dollar movies, Marvel Studios might not hit so hard in 2020. Aside from maybe the solo movie for Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, which got its first trailer released showing that betwen a Civil War and an Infinity War, Natasha Romanoff had a personal war to fight.
16 2019 South Asian Games   468,494
 
Indian athletes who want to get some medals in their multisport tournament can sing "I think I'm going to Kathmandu, That's really, really where I'm going to..." (and given our #5, weird to see India beaten by the Philippines)
17 No Time to Die   467,551
 
Speaking of movies who got their trailers, a preview was released to James Bond's 25th film (reuniting Daniel Craig with Ana de Armas following our #10).
18 2019 Ballon d'Or   465,818
 
Since 2008, only once our #13 was not given to Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. And lo and behold, in spite of not being one of those seasons that FC Barcelona steamrolled, the Argentinian got his sixth award (meanwhile, Champions League winner Virgil van Dijk was runner-up).
19 Opinion polling for the 2019 United Kingdom general election   457,504 It's week before the election, so the Brits need to see how it's shaping up.
20 Andy Ruiz Jr.   456,763
 
In the six months since his shocking victory over Anthony Joshua (#23) to become heavyweight champion, this boxer couldn't get a picture of his on Commons... and now he lost the belt too.
21 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh   443,554
 
The husband of our #7, now portrayed by Tobias Menzies in The Crown.
22 Mandalorian   428,556
 
The warrior race that is the subject of #4.
23 Anthony Joshua   426,912
 
Following his shock defeat to our #20, Anthony Joshua asked for a rematch, and got back his belt in Saudi Arabia.
24 2012 Delhi gang rape   416,377
 
Already depicted by Netflix this year on Delhi Crime, this horrendous crime is back into the public mind due to both legal news and a similar incident.
25 Charles, Prince of Wales   412,723
 
The heir apparent to our #7, played in The Crown by Josh O'Connor.
 
Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (December 1 to 7, 2019)

Exclusions

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  • 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.