Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/September 22 to 28, 2024

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (September 22 to 28, 2024)

Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, Vestrian24Bio, CAWylie, Rahcmander.

Plenty of articles related to crime and death (including the same true crime show subjects at the top), along with politics, yet more conflicts in the Middle East, and some entertainment.

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Lyle and Erik Menéndez	7,386,763	These American brothers who were convicted in 1996 of the murders of their parents managed to top the list thanks to the second season (#5) of the Netflix biographical anthology series which was based on their life story. (If you click the article you might notice the page name is now spelled without an accent)
2	Maggie Smith	3,006,977	Dame Margaret Natalie Smith died at the age of 89, leaving behind a storied career that included two Oscars (Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Best Supporting Actress for California Suite) and memorable roles like a Greek Goddess in Clash of the Titans, an elderly Wendy Darling in Hook, a stern nun in Sister Act, a stern witch in the Harry Potter movies, and a witty countess in Downton Abbey.
3	Sean Combs	1,968,290	Last night, I couldn't even get an answer. Well, the answers regarding the rapper also known as Puff Daddy and (P.) Diddy are turning out to be quite unsavory. His success in music and business (he's possibly a billionaire) led to wild "white parties" full of sex and drugs, and many crimes that sent Combs to court, most notably hundreds of accusations of sexual misconduct. The press and social media are also digging up who used to hang out with Combs.
4	Hassan Nasrallah	1,140,433	The leader of #7, a Lebanese militant group designated as a terrorist organization by many countries, was killed once the group's headquarters were bombed by Israel in #20.
5	Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story	1,034,454	The second season of the American biographical crime drama anthology television series Monster, centers on the 1989 murders of José and Kitty Menendez (portrayed by Javier Bardem, pictured, and Chloë Sevigny), who were killed by their sons, #1 (portrayed by #22 and #24). It premiered last week on Netflix and achieved massive viewership numbers, despite being subject to controversies as well. Which means it's just like season 1 two years ago, only this time the Wikipedia views aren't high enough to revolt the writers of this Report.
6	Deaths in 2024	992,961	Jean, Jean, you're young and alive Come out of your half-dreamed dream And run, if you will, to the top of the hill Open your arms, bonnie Jean
7	Hezbollah	807,182	The Israel–Hamas war is close to completing its first year, to the chagrin of everyone not named Benjamin Netanyahu. The Zionist state took the opportunity to retaliate constant bombings by the militant group ruling over neighbor country (#20), with actions like the Lebanon pager explosions and the airstrike that killed #4. The international community fears it will escalate to another major armed conflict as some are already predicting a WW3.
8	Murder of Felicia Gayle	751,513	While a journalist being found dead from 43 stab wounds in her own home in 1998, and her killer (Marcellus Williams) was charged, convicted and sentenced to death in 2001, should be shocking in and of itself, his appeals since then, coupled with DNA evidence supporting his innocence and Gayle's family not wanting him to be executed, did not sway the State of Missouri (state seal shown) from sparing his life on September 24.
9	Devara: Part 1	751,115	As two Indian films leave the list, a new one enters. Written and directed by Koratala Siva (pictured), this Tollywood action-drama film starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr in his 30th film as a lead actor was released last Friday. This film also marks Saif Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor and Shruti Marathe's Telugu acting debuts. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics and grossed over ₹250 crore (US$30 million) in just 3 days against a budget of ₹300 crore (US$36 million).
10	Daniel Dubois	677,941	"Are you not entertained?", the IBF heavyweight champion shouted to the crowd of 96,000 at Wembley Stadium, after defeating opponent Anthony Joshua on September 21.
11	Dominique Dunne	627,589	In #5, one of the journalists investigating on #1 is Dominick Dunne. Yet readers mostly ended up in the similarly named and tragic page of his youngest child, Dominique, an actress who a few months after a breakthrough role in Poltergeist saw her life cut short at just 22 once her boyfriend strangled her to death after an argument.
12	Kim Porter	624,025	Porter died from pneumonia in 2018. She and #3 dated off and on from the 1990s until 2007; they also had three children in that timespan, as well as Combs adopting Porter's son. Rumors have circulated since her death of abuse from Combs during their time together, even so far as to insinuate she died from foul play. In September, a book, alleged to be Porter's memoir in her own words, was released and documented all claims. Her children took to social media, not to support Combs, but their mother's memory.
13	The Substance	593,045	In the American debut of French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, Demi Moore plays a former movie star who is invited to test an experimental serum that creates a younger version of herself played by Margaret Qualley, but not without some horrifying side effects. Noted for its criticism of ageism and beauty standards in the entertainment industry, as well as stomach-churning body horror to make David Cronenberg and Brian Yuzna proud, The Substance won Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival and TIFF's People's Choice: Midnight Madness, and MUBI has released it in American theaters.
14	The Penguin (TV series)	580,273	Last week, this DC entry was below two MCU entries but, this week this one managed to outlast one and surpass the other (#18)! The 2nd entry in "The Batman Epic Crime Saga" (said to be a spin-off) in the DC Elseworlds set within the new Rebooted DCU, starring mob boss Oz Cobb, is releasing new episodes on Sunday nights, with its second premiering in the one after the week covered by this Report on HBO Max.
15	Toby Stephens	578,546	#2's sons with Robert Stephens also went into the acting business. The youngest, Toby Stephens, is probably best known for playing a Bond villain in Die Another Day (he was also James Bond himself in a series of radio plays). The eldest, Chris Larkin (who chose a different surname to avoid comparisons with his parents), has done many period works like Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Valkyrie.
16	Chris Larkin	563,687
17	Eric Adams	560,222	The mayor of New York City, elected in 2021, had a series of investigations open up against him this month. On September 25, he was indicted on federal charges of bribery, fraud, and soliciting foreign campaign donations.
18	Agatha All Along (miniseries)	546,511	As DCU is releasing a series with new episodes every Sunday on HBO Max; here's MCU releasing a series with new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+. The third episode of the series released last Wednesday, had a treat for the longtime-Marvel fans by mentioning Marvel's version of Devil, who fans have been wanting to see since WandaVision and who Marvel later confirmed that will make its comic accurate live-action debut in the upcoming Ironheart series (and given who the next Avengers villain is, wonder if the introduction of Mephisto has something to do with how in the comics he's related to the origins of Doctor Doom...). Also in the episode the buzz between Agatha's coven is that she traded her child for the Darkhold. By the end of the episode the road kills of the green witch and wipes her from the coven's memories paving the way for the entry of the actual green witch (as seen on the trailer), who is portrayed by the magnificent Aubrey Plaza.
19	Leslie Abramson	544,325	You can't view #1 and not check out Erik's New York defense attorney and her ethics during his trial. Of course, she wrote a book following the ordeal. In #5, she is portrayed by Ari Graynor (pictured).
20	Lebanon	533,746	Rough week for this Mediterranean country just over 100 years old. From pager explosions killing 42 people and airstrikes killing 800 people, all within this week, the world wonders if it should get involved in what could start World War III.
21	Kamala Harris	518,272	Hasn't really done anything extraordinary this week, aside from trying to become the most powerful person in the world.
22	Cooper Koch	514,772	Koch is 26-year-old American actor, who first appeared in the 2007 film, Fracture. His recent portrayal of Erik Menendez (see #1) in #5 is the only reason he is on this particular list.
23	Anna Sorokin	510,541	The latest season of Dancing with the Stars saw its first eliminations. One was actress Tori Spelling, and the other the Russian fraudster who many met through the dramatization Inventing Anna and did her best to make the dresses match the ankle monitor. It was followed by a very blunt post-elimination interview - “Anna, what are you going to take away from this competition?” "Nothing!" - and possibly Sorokin (or Delvey, the surname she used trying to con people out of her money) being shipped back to continue her house arrest in New York.
24	Nicholas Alexander Chavez	456,193	One Netflix criminal splitting the portrayers of the other two that are at #1. The 25 year old playing Lyle Menendez in #5 has already landed another leading role in a Ryan Murphy show, Grotesquerie.
25	Beetlejuice Beetlejuice	451,213	The return of Michael Keaton as The Ghost with the Most that still runs strong in theaters, completing three weekends atop the box office by slightly beating Transformers One (which narrowly missed this at #27, behind the whole list and Thunderbolts*) and earning nearly $350 million worldwide.