Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/April 15 to 21, 2018

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (April 15 to 21, 2018) edit

Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga (with help from Ahecht)

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Death, hear me call your name

It's been one of those weeks permeated by famous people dying, with our top three entries being a DJ, a First Lady (who brought along her President husband and son, and also a daughter), and a sergeant-turned-actor who passed away, and there are also another two actors and a TV personality. On a lighter note, there's a movie not based on anything else (#6), unlike many other entries - Netflix remaking (#5) an old TV series (#19), a video game franchise returning (#12), movies based on comics (#14, #23) and games (#17) - along with some music (#7, #11, #24), and the ever-popular British royal family (#22), marijuana (#10) and Reddit (#20, #21).

For the week of April 15 to 21, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank	Article	Views	Notes
1	Avicii	5,355,249	We start this list on a sad and shocking note, as this Swedish DJ, responsible for hits such as "Wake Me Up" and "Hey Brother", died at just 28, victim of health issues that already drove him away from live performances.
2	Barbara Bush	2,399,130	Another death of the week, a former First Lady of the United States, whose eldest son was also President. A survivor of Frank Drebin, Mrs. Bush died peacefully at home at the age of 92.
3	R. Lee Ermey	1,810,311	A whole podium of the recently deceased! Ermey was a former Marine until Stanley Kubrick, who had hired him to be a consultant on Full Metal Jacket, was so impressed with his instruction tape that he gave him the role of Gunnery Sgt. Hartman, the quintessential boot camp mean instructor. Ermey, who went on to play other military men (even plastic ones, as he voices the Army men in Toy Story), policeman and such, died at 74 from pneumonia.
4	George H. W. Bush	1,288,038	And for someone who's still alive (at 93!), the 41st President of the United States and widower of #2.
5	Lost in Space (2018 TV series)	1,033,139	20 years after that forgettable film adaptation featuring Joey Tribbiani, the Robinson family gets another chance by migrating from TV (#19) to streaming, in this newly released Netflix series.
6	A Quiet Place (film)	1,000,768	A family that shushes together stays together in this horror sci-fi where real life couple Emily Blunt and John Krasinski (the latter, also director and co-writer of the film) try to survive with their children in a world ravaged by aliens who hunt by sound. Critics loved it, and audiences agree, as A Quiet Place just returned to #1 in the American box office over Rampage (#17) and has grossed $211 million worldwide, more than ten times its budget.
7	Cardi B	861,989	It's been a great year for Belcalis Almanzar, whose debut album Invasion of Privacy debuted at #1 at the Billboard 200 (the first female rapper to top the list since Lauryn Hill) while also having all of its tracks in the Hot 100, and broke Taylor Swift's Apple Music record for most streamed album by a female artist in a single week. In the meantime, she's also expecting a child from fiancé Offset.
8	Dale Winton	856,554	Yet another of the recently departed: this British DJ and TV host of among other shows Dale's Supermarket Sweep, died at 62.
9	Deaths in 2018	851,265	See #1, #2, #3, #8, #13, and #15 (and, by extension, #4, #16, and #25)
10	420 (cannabis culture)	766,055	April 20 is a great day to learn why marijuana is associated with this number, as well as to celebrate how the date was hijacked from Neo-Nazis who wanted to celebrate Hitler's birthday.
11	Exo (band)	745,947	This K-pop act has gotten such fame that now the Korean mint has unveiled medals in their homage.
12	God of War (2018 video game)	715,022	Kratos returns in this PlayStation 4 exclusive, where after slaughtering the entire Greek pantheon, the "Ghost of Sparta" settles in Scandinavia. Given the nature of the games, one can expect a few Norse mythology casualties.
13	Harry Anderson	714,174	The fifth famous casualty of the week, this American actor, comedian, and magician, known mostly for television work such as Night Court, Dave's World and the It miniseries, has left this world at 65 from a stroke.
14	Avengers: Infinity War	626,885	The probable #1 of the next report, where a purple megalomaniac invades Earth and forces everyone from the previous 17 Marvel Cinematic Universe movies (#23) to join forces against him.
15	Verne Troyer	591,696	One last death! This dwarf actor, best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers movies, died at 49 of possible alcohol poisoning.
16	George W. Bush	558,632	Barbara's (#2) death brings attention to the Bush family, including her eldest son with President #41 (#4), who went on to be elected President #43.
17	Rampage (2018 film)	525,850	2018 has provided two serviceable video game movies: a few months after Tomb Raider came this adaptation of the classic arcade where "not King Kong", "not Godzilla", and a werewolf destroyed cities, now turned into an albino gorilla, an alligator and a wolf growing giant and wrecking Chicago. And of course such a dumb action movie stars Dwayne Johnson! And the appeal of The Rock along with giant monsters already made Rampage outgross Tomb Raider with $284 million worldwide.
18	James Comey	510,410	Dipping into the garbage fire that are American politics, Comey has released a tell-all memoir of his time as Director of the FBI, A Higher Loyalty. The Department of Justice has also unveiled a 15-page memo of Comey's conversations with Donald Trump.
19	Lost in Space	505,726	The iconic sci-fi series from the 1960s, best remembered for the hammy Dr. Smith and the robot who screamed "Danger, Will Robinson!" (pictured), whose remake is at #5.
20	Jeffrey Dahmer	488,044	Reddit learned that not even a horrifying serial killer is above being swindled, by highlighting an anedocte where Dahmer accidentally took a drink laced with sleeping pills intended for a would-be-victim, who in turn took advantage of the sleeping host to steal some items.
21	Eyebrow flash	467,511	Reddit again, discovering about this unconscious gesture where people briefly lift their eyebrows once they recognize someone in a distance (and the other person responds).
22	Elizabeth II	434,569	The third nonagenarian on the list, after #2 and #4. Her Majesty does not want to abdicate the British throne, but has declared Prince Charles is succeeding her as head of the Commonwealth of Nations.
23	List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films	426,256	Black Panther is finally off our list. But the high position for the next movie (#14) shows everyone is still eager to watch the next Marvel movie.
24	Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival	419,407	The 19th edition of this festival was headlined by Eminem, The Weeknd, and Beyoncé, whose performances were deemed good enough for an article of its own.
25	Dorothy Bush Koch	393,963	One final Bush, Barbara (#2) and George (#4)'s only living daughter, who took over her mother's charity, and went with her father to the memorial services. It's somehow surprising that Jeb Bush, the other politician in the family, was the least seen of the five at #94 (Neil Bush was #50 and Marvin Bush, #53), even behind the other Barbara Bush (#70), daughter of George W. (#16).