Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/October 6 to 12, 2019

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Prepared with commentary by Hugsyrup

Last week's report - Next Week's Report

Jokers, meth cookers, and child stars

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There are some interesting connections in this week's report. #1 is a popular new film, in which #2 plays #8, who was previously played by #7. #22 is the partner of #2, while #12 is his younger brother, and was a child star who died of a drug overdose, much like #13. That neat mesh of connections covers a good chunk of the week's report, while the remainder comprise a familiar mix of wrestling, Indian movies, Netflix productions, and of course dead celebrities.

For the week of October 6 to 12, 2019, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:

Rank Article Class Views Image About
1 Joker (2019 film)   3,916,575
 
It's no surprise that this week's list is going to be dominated by Jokers. The latest, and perhaps most controversial, incarnation of the comic book character (item #1) hit cinemas earlier this month. It features #2 as an isolated, lonely and mentally ill would-be comic who slowly finds his villainous side.
2 Joaquin Phoenix   1,766,842
3 War (2019 film)   1,109,505
 
We always see a lot of movies on this list, but it's not every week that a non-English film makes it quite so high up. This Hindi-language action thriller stars Tiger Shroff as an Indian soldier assigned to hunt down his former mentor, played by Hrithik Roshan.
4 El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie   834,546
 
It wouldn't be a Top 25 without a Netflix original movie or series. This week's #4 completes the story of Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul and was last seen in the finale of Breaking Bad back in September 2013.
5 Hell in a Cell (2019)   792,414
 
The Top 25 isn't all Netflix, wrestling and death, I promise. But of course the latest big wrestling event always has to make an appearance, and this week it was this one that took place on October 6, 2019 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, with its main event between Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt ending in highly controversial fashion.
6 Deaths in 2019   736,002
 
Death and taxes may be life's only certainties, but taxes never seems to appear on the Top 25 for some reason, so I guess we're all a lot more interested in death.
7 Heath Ledger   610,510
 
Interest in the most praised actor to play the Joker seems to have sparked interest in the character himself, as well as the previous incumbent of the role. At the time, many felt that Heath Ledger's portrayal in The Dark Knight in 2008 could never be matched. Whether that's still true is, and will probably remain, a matter of considerable debate.
8 Joker (comics)   589,608
9 Ginger Baker   540,799
 
The first of this week's recently-deceased celebrities, Peter 'Ginger' Baker was an English drummer and the co-founder of rock band Cream. He died on 6 October 2019 after a short illness.
10 Samuel Little   537,066 Believed to be America's most prolific serial killer, Little claims to have killed 93 people and appears on this list after making headlines for closing a number of cold cases through the chilling portraits he draws of his victims.
11 Gemini Man (film)   525,397
 
Starring Will Smith, Will Smith, and the power of digital anti-aging technology, this sci-fi action thriller follows an aging hitman who is pursued by a younger clone of himself. It hit cinemas in the US on October 11, 2019, and has attracted reviews that could charitably be described as 'mixed'.
12 River Phoenix   502,537
 
Tragically dead from a drug overdose at the age of 23, the Stand By Me and The Mosquito Coast actor was the younger brother of this week's #2, which is probably why he's shown up on this list more than 25 years after his death.
13 Judy Garland   467,088
 
Another troubled child star who died prematurely from a drug overdose, the star of 1939's The Wizard of Oz is portrayed as an adult by Renée Zellweger in Judy, released on September 27, 2019.
14 Yom Kippur   459,489
 
The Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the year in Judaism, Yom Kippur fell this year on October 8th-9th.
15 Robert Forster   444,782
 
Forster is another actor to appear on the list following his recent death, on October 11, 2019. Ironically, or appropriately, he died on the same day that his final film was released – this week's #4 in which he reprised the role of Ed Galbraith, which he had originally played in Breaking Bad.
16 Peaky Blinders (TV series)   436,080
 
Series 5 of this award-winning historical fiction drama returned to the BBC in August, with the finale broadcast on September 22. Amongst many returning characters, it introduces Sam Claflin as the fascist Oswald Mosley.
17 In the Tall Grass (film)   434,988
 
Another Netflix original, this Canadian Horror film is based on the novella of the same name by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill. It was released on Netflix on October 4, 2019.
18 Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy   424,140
 
Another Indian film, but this time a Telugu-language epic action drama. A fictionalized account of the life of Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy, the film stars Chiranjeevi as the 19th century activist and leader.
19 SuperM   423,332
 
A K-Pop group manufactured from members of existing bands, SuperM have debuted heavily in October, with their EP released on October 4, a concert on October 5, and an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on October 9.
20 Richard Jewell   414,158
 
This genuine hero, who saved lives at the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in 1996 and was then investigated by police and vilified by the media, died in 2007. He's been back in the news, however, with the announcement of a film based on his story, due for release in November.
21 Israel Adesanya   406,700
 
This Nigerian-New Zealander professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and boxer has been hitting the news recently after becoming undisputed UFC middleweight champion in a bout on October 6 2019.
22 Rooney Mara   388,599
 
An American actress probably best known for her starring role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, she's also the partner of this week's #2, which might explain her appearance in this list.
23 Kurds   386,578
 
Presumably a popular search term for people trying to understand the latest big political story in the US, the Kurds are an ethnic group native to an area of Iran bordering Turkey. An ally of the US in the fight against Isis, they have long been a target of Turkey, which jumped at the opportunity of the US withdrawal of troops and began a campaign into Kurdistan.
24 List of Bollywood films of 2019   384,642
 
Bollywood is as busy as ever, and its films are always popular topics on Wikipedia, so here's a convenient list of its output for the year.
25 Kamini Roy   373,835
 
The subject of a Google Doodle to celebrate her 155th birthday on September 27, this Bengali poet and author was the first female honors graduate in British India.
 
Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (October 6 to 12, 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.
Note: If you came here from the Signpost article, please take any discussion of exclusions to this article's talk page.