Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/December 24 to 30, 2023

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Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (December 24 to 30, 2023)[edit]

Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, CAWylie, I am RedoStone, Shuipzv3, Rahcmander and Krimuk2.0.

⭠ Last week's report → Next week's report

The last list of the year (albeit with the very last day tacked onto 2024's first) keeps most of the previous one, while adding some sports and a few deaths.

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes/about
1 Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire 3,995,797 This Telugu action film has marked a career comeback for star Prabhas after several underperformers that followed his stratospheric stardom thanks to the Baahubali films. It also marks another high for director Prashanth Neel after the KGF films. Much like those action extravaganzas, prepare to have your eardrums shatter with Salaar. By the time you recover, Part 2 – Shouryaanga Parvam promises to rupture them again.
2 Saltburn (film) 2,626,095 Released globally in mid-November, this British-American joint has frequented most of these lists ever since. However, after hitting Prime Video late last week, it now resides near the top. The story deals with an Oxford freshman with a humble background who befriends a richer classmate and hangs with his family, and is seemingly very interested in achieving social ascension that will allow for some naked dancing.
3 Murder of Dee Dee Blanchard 2,518,817 Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard was found dead in a pool of her own blood on June 14, 2015. Her then 23-year-old daughter, Gypsy Rose, who, according to her mother, had a laundry list of ailments, including the "mental capacity of a seven-year-old", was missing and feared abducted. It turned out that Gypsy Rose had met her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn online and was found perfectly healthy, aside from signs of maternal abuse, over in the next state. The now-ex-boyfriend was accused of murder and sentenced to life, Gypsy Rose pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in July 2015 and was released from custody this week in the custody of her husband, who married her in 2022 and looks like Dee Dee.
4 Dunki (film) 2,485,143 After making a career comeback earlier in the year with the action films Pathaan and Jawan, star Shah Rukh Khan returned to his soft-man image with Dunki, a much more grounded comedy-drama, directed by the master of comedy-dramas Rajkumar Hirani. In further proof of changing tastes among Indian audiences, Dunki did well but not as well as the hyper-masculine action films of the year. No more soft-man Khan in the near future, then.
5 Lee Sun-kyun 1,467,503 An actor from South Korea, well known for starring in 2019's Best Picture winner (or 2020's winner, depending on how you look at it), Parasite. Lee unfortunately committed suicide on December 27 at the age of 48.
6 Rebel Moon 1,302,602 …or rather Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is writer-director Zack Snyder's next space opera. While critics seem to hate it, the release on Netflix received almost 24 million viewers, making it the most-watched English-language film on the service for last week, and, yes, there will be more.
7 Vijayakanth 1,297,142 Like the US president Ronald Reagan, this Indian politician began a career as an actor, only not living as long. The "Black MGR" died this week at age 71.
8 Animal (2023 film) 1,248,785 Another soft-boy Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor made his transition to "alpha man" this year with this action drama. Fortunately for misogynists and unfortunately for the rest of us, he scored the biggest hit of his career.
9 Leonard Bernstein 1,218,330 The American conductor, composer and pianist is played by Bradley Cooper in the biopic Maestro, which Cooper also directed and co-wrote.
10 Deaths in 2023 1,050,652 The obituary finishes 2023 having not missed a week, leading to it being the second most viewed article of the year behind ChatGPT. (One of the last deaths of the year, Tom Wilkinson on December 30, didn't get enough views to enter this list, but could enter the next.)
11 Leave the World Behind (film) 991,736 This Julia Roberts-starring apocalyptic thriller continues to frustrate viewers, who are still coming back to read more about why critics liked it more than them...
12 Boxing Day 947,915 While Christmas itself couldn't enter this list at #28, the unofficial holiday "celebrated" the following day is here.
13 Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom 833,934 This often-delayed film finally surfaced at the end of 2023. The 15th and final installment of the DC Extended Universe currently has a 35% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 42% rating on Metacritic, both giving off a fishy smell from critics. Box office prospects are also down (it topped on Christmas weekend, but fell to second afterwards behind #18, which wasn't even a new release!), albeit it looks like earnings will at least be better than The Flash.
14 What If...? (season 2) 807,308 The final Marvel Cinematic Universe offering of the year is the return of the alternate history animated anthology, that issued its episodes daily and has had a third season confirmed. The stories included:
15 Premier League 796,252 One more week for English football, which is noted for putting many games during #12 (as high as 10, though 2023 only had 5).
16 Joe Flacco 778,404 At age 38, this 15-year American quarterback became the first player in NFL history to have 250 passing yards and multiple passing touchdowns in each of his first five games with a franchise (currently the Cleveland Browns). And to date, he has been with six teams, twice with one of them.
17 List of highest-grossing Indian films 690,559 #1, #4, and #8 continue to climb up this list, with all in the top 30.
18 Wonka (film) 711,738 After so many shoot-em-ups in the list, it's a welcome relief to have a film that's sweet and fun. During this week's holiday season, Wonka continued to have a stellar hold at the box-office, further affirming Timothée Chalamet as Hollywood's biggest young star and Paul King as the King of the saccharine.
19 Barry Keoghan 709,467 One of Ireland's greatest actors stars in #2 and is already showing on the year's shortlist of acting award nominations (see the Golden Globes).
20 The Chicks 687,170 Formerly known as "The Dixie Chicks", this American country music group, who hasn't done anything since 2020, enters the list because founding member Laura Lynch died on December 22 in a traffic collision. Lynch, once a lead singer, quietly left the group in 1995, after growing weary of touring, and afterwards the group soon found success with her replacement Natalie Maines.
21 J. Robert Oppenheimer 675,579 Awards season attention on this year's blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer continues to bring back the subject of the film on the list.
22 Von Erich family 656,112 The Iron Claw (which would be #26) chronicles the tragic story of this family of wrestlers.
23 Macaulay Culkin 583,224 Another Christmas-related entry, as it's the best time to rewatch Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and thus people seek the lead actor, now a 43-year-old engaged to another former child star with whom he has two sons. Earlier this month, Culkin got a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a fan created a fake trailer imagining if Home Alone 3 wasn't an unrelated sequel with the kid from Liar Liar, but one of the recent batch of nostalgic sequels with Culkin as an adult Kevin McAllister.
24 The Color Purple (2023 film) 579,030 Christmas Day marked the release of this well-received musical film adaptation of Alice Walker's novel that was previously adapted by Steven Spielberg in the well-received drama adaptation in 1985. Plus, stars Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks have much awards season attention to look forward to.
25 2024 PDC World Darts Championship 560,732 First, it was cricket to make the lists, then the perennial favorite - football, now it's darts. The tourney ran from December 15 to January 3, with "Cool Hand Luke" emerging victorious. Might as well, since he's World No. 1.