The Top 25 Report
Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (May 21 to 27, 2017)
editPrepared with commentary by OZOO
← Last week's report – Next week's report →
Leading the news for the week of May 21 to 27 were the awful events in Manchester on May 22. Following a concert by the US singer Ariana Grande, a bomb was detonated outside the Manchester Arena, resulting in the deaths of 22 victims as well as the perpetrator. Grande tops the list, and the bombing comes in at #17. More sadness elsewhere in the list, with the funeral this week of musician Chris Cornell (#5) and the deaths of MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden (#20), and James Bond actor Roger Moore (#2) – the latter death also seeing the presence in the list of Moore's predecessor as Bond, Sir Sean Connery (#16).
The world of film is, as ever, providing an entry into the list, with both Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (#3) and Alien: Covenant (#9) here to maintain film franchises that pretty much everyone agrees should probably have stopped after one or two. Far more intriguing is the battle to top the List of highest-grossing Indian films (#6), with Dangal (#19) taking the lead from Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (#4), even has Baahubali 2 leads our chart. Intrigue, also with the return of Twin Peaks - both original (#12) and resurrection (#14) hit our chart. A new HBO documentary helped Bernie Madoff into the charts (#8), while Cher (#15) and Dwayne The Rock Johnson (#22) both managed to attract interest with their actions over the weekend.
Native American activist Richard Oakes gets into the list at #8 following a Google Doodle on what would have been his 75th birthday. Another placing for a wrestling event, this time Backlash (#21), where the WWE Championship was won by Jinder Mahal (#23). And, on the subject of aggressive individuals and implausible storylines, Donald Trump. (#18)
Last, but by no means least, the Islamic month of Ramadan, starting on Saturday May 27; and the American Memorial Day, on Monday May 29, have the 24th and 25th places.
For the week of May 21 to 27, 2017, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes 1 Ariana Grande 
2,839,382 
On 22 May, a suicide bombing was carried out at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, following a concert by the American singer, Ariana Grande. 22 people, including children, were murdered in the explosion, and 116 other people have been injured, in some cases critically. A benefit concert, including a number of worldwide stars and Grande herself will be held on Sunday 28 May at Old Trafford Cricket Ground. 2 Roger Moore 
1,704,351 
Sir Roger Moore, the notably suave British actor, died on 23 May at the age of 89. His career included roles as Ivanhoe in Ivanhoe and Simon Templar in The Saint, but he is best known for being the third actor to portray James Bond for Eon Productions, starting with 1973's Live and Let Die and going for six more films (more than any other Bond actor so far), finishing with 1985's A View to a Kill 3 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
1,078,069 
The fifth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been released. Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush return as Captain Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa, with Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario and Javier Bardem joining the cast. In your compiler's view, the film is not very good (the first sign being that it was a follow-up to the last three Pirates of the Caribbean films, also not very good), and, while opening weekend figures have not been bad, they are down on figures for 2011's On Stranger Tides. 4 Baahubali 2: The Conclusion
1,014,146 
S. S. Rajamouli's film continues to be the highest Indian film on this chart, but has lost its title as highest-grossing Indian film of all time to Dangal (#19) this week. It would not surprise me to see Baahubali 2 regain the lead at some point, depending on how its Chinese release goes. 5 Chris Cornell
970,464 
Chris Cornell, the lead vocalist for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave, was found dead on May 18. Amongst his career's achievements were two Grammy Awards for his work with Soundgarden, a Golden Globe nomination for his song "The Keeper" for the film Machine Gun Preacher and performing the title song to the James Bond film Casino Royale, "You Know My Name". In 2013 readers of Guitar World voted Cornell Rock's Greatest Singer. His death, shortly after performing in a concert with Soundgarden, has been ruled a suicide. His funeral took place on May 26. 6 List of highest-grossing Indian films 
956,698 
As mentioned, Dangal (#19), the biographical sports drama film staring Aamir Khan, has overtaken Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, (#4) thanks in part to its Chinese performance. The lead is currently ₹86 crore, approximately US$20 million. 7 Bernard Madoff
948,019 
Bernie Madoff, the American stockbroker, investment advisor, financier and fraudster who operated the largest Ponzi scheme in US history and is currently 8 years into a 150-year prison sentence, was the subject of the HBO television film The Wizard of Lies, where he was played by Robert de Niro. The film was first broadcast on May 20, and was the largest premiere for an HBO film in the last four years. 8 Richard Oakes (activist) 
873,850 
May 22, 2017 would have been the 75th birthday of the Mohawk Native American activist Richard Oakes, and it was marked by Google with one of their Doodles. From 1969, Oakes led a group of students in an eighteen month long Occupation of Alcatraz, which had the result of ending the US government's policy of termination of Indian tribes. (Graffiti from the occupation is pictured.) Oakes was shot and killed in 1972 by Michael Morgan, a YMCA camp manager. 9 Alien: Covenant
839,288 
The sixth film released in the Alien film series - and the second in chronological order - was released in the United States on May 19. The Ridley Scott-directed sci-fi horror topped the U.S. box office charts in its debut weekend, but has dropped to fourth following the releases of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (#3) and Baywatch 10 Pirates of the Caribbean (film series) 
739,667 
The first film in this franchise - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl - was well received back in 2003, getting a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and even getting an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination for Johnny Depp and his Keith Richards impersonation. The fifth film in this franchise (#3) currently has a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. There is a message here, possibly something about quitting while you're ahead. 11 Deaths in 2017
720,217 
As usual, approximately 100,000 readers for this list every day. 12 Twin Peaks
707,320 
Mark Frost and David Lynch's cult supernatural-crime drama-horror comes into the chart following the premiere of a revival series. This article refers to the original 1990–91 ABC series, not the new series which is a bit lower down. 13 Fidget spinner
671,100 
The popular stress-relieving toy/fad du jour is still on the Wikipedia list, actually rising in views by 50,000 over last week. I've seen "the youths" using them 'round the town, and they look a) like a brief diversion and b) capable of causing damage to someone or something, if you used them incorrectly. Or possibly correctly, depending on what you wanted. 14 Twin Peaks (2017 TV series)
631,439 
Twin Peaks again, this time the new Showtime series, written by Mark Frost and David Lynch, directed by Lynch and starring Kyle MacLachlan (pictured) returning as FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as well as a number of other returning and new characters. The premiere episode broadcast on May 21, and critical reception thus far has been strong. 15 Cher
629,326 
Cher - the American singer whose best known hits include "Believe", "I Got You Babe" and "If I Could Turn Back Time", amongst others - won the Billboard Icon Award at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards on May 21. She also performed at the award ceremony in a notably skimpy outfit. It is up to you to decide which of the two events is more likely to have driven attention to her and her article. 16 Sean Connery
612,312 
The first actor to portray James Bond for Eon Productions (please don't mention that stuntman Bob Simmons did the gun barrel sequence for Dr. No and is thus technically first, because everyone will hate you for it), Sir Sean doubtlessly attracted attention due to the death of his successor Roger Moore (#2) this week. 17 2017 Manchester Arena bombing
596,070 
Twenty-two people, including children, were murdered by a suicide bomb following a Ariana Grande (#1) concert at Manchester Arena (pictured). ISIS have claimed responsibility for the atrocity. 18 Donald Trump
572,456 
Yer man President Trump here, this week taking on his first foreign trips as president, visiting Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican before attending the NATO summit in Brussels and the G7 summit on Sicily. Trump started his trip in a nicely meme-friendly way, posing for an awkward photo with Pope Francis and touching a mysterious giant glowing orb with King Salman. He then proceeded to insult the US's allies, but who needs allies, eh? It's not like North Korea are threatening to kill us all again. 19 Dangal (film)
555,399 A return to this chart for the first chart-topper of the year. Aamir Khan's boxing biographical sports drama film has regained its position as highest-grossing Indian film from Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (#4), after spending two weeks topping the Chinese box office. 20 Nicky Hayden
526,098 
Nicky Hayden, the American motorcycle racer who was MotoGP world champion in the 2006 season, died at the age of 35 on May 22 after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle. Hayden managed three race wins and 28 podiums over 13 years in his MotoGP career, including his championship 2006 season. 21 Backlash (2017)
483,757 
Another month, another wrestling event enters the list. The 13th World Wrestling Entertainment event to be produced under the Backlash label, it was held on May 21 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. In the main event, Jinder Mahal (#23) defeated Randy Orton to win his first WWE Championship, and the event also saw the televised in-ring debut of Shinsuke Nakamura (pictured), who defeated Dolph Ziggler. 22 Dwayne Johnson
480,736 
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is starring in the newly released Baywatch remake, and, presumably in order to help publicise the film, he guest hosted the season finale of Saturday Night Live's forty-second season. While there, he (jokingly) announced that he would be standing in the United States presidential election, 2020. Hahaha, very funny! Of course, the idea of a man far more associated with wrestling and the media than any actual politics becoming President of the United States is absolutely ludicrous, right guys? 23 Jinder Mahal
445,636 
In winning the WWE Championship at Backlash (#21), Mahal becomes the first wrestler of Indian descent to hold the title, and the fiftieth wrestler to do so overall. Randy Orton has challenged Mahal to a rematch at the Money in the Bank event to be held on June 18, and no doubt the result will make its way onto a version of this list shortly afterwards. 24 Ramadan
431,666 
The ninth month of the Islamic calendar is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, an annual observance which is regarded as one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The month of Ramadan for the Islamic year 1438 AH began on May 27 of the Gregorian calendar, and will last until 24 June. Last year the article was 180k views and 11 places higher, but this discrepancy can be explained by the fact that last year Ramadan started on a Monday, this year a Saturday. 25 Memorial Day
428,120 
The last Monday in May is acknowledged as a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. As the day itself does not appear in the period covered by this report, it appears that viewers are building up to the day itself, and I would expect to see it much higher in next week's report. Last year, Memorial Day was just 70k views higher but a whole 14 places further up the list for the week before, which is surely a sign of how much stuff there was about this week.
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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.
- Per consensus, Lali Esposito & Earth are excluded.
- A significant number of articles on nations, ranging from the major to the obscure, occupied the top of the WP:5000 list, to such a rate that we could almost fill the whole list with them. All of these countries had mobile views so low as to indicate that they are unlikely to have been genuine; although if you are one of the one million three hundred and twenty-six thousand eight hundred and seven viewers of the article for the Moldavian Democratic Republic, please do feel free to write in.
- Note: If you came here from the Signpost article, please take any discussion of exclusions to this article's talk page.