Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/February 25 to March 2, 2024

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (February 25 to March 2, 2024)

Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, CAWylie, Rahcmander, Shuipzv3, and Bucket of sulfuric acid.

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Science-fiction, fantasy, and historical dramas control the top of this week's list, while Death tries to hold its dominion.

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Dune: Part Two	1,498,715	40 years after David Lynch showed Dune is not exactly a story that can be told in a scant 137 minutes, comes the conclusion of Denis Villeneuve's adaptation, making for two movies that suffered a few delays (Part 1 due to COVID, Part 2 due to the Hollywood strikes) and translated in over five hours of runtime how Paul Atreides went from an heir sent to a planet filled with sand and worms to a messianic figure who the local populace will follow to a war. Dune: Part Two earned glowing reviews for fulfilling its epic ambitions, even if it lacks a proper conclusion and ends downright saying Paul's crusades are only beginning (there were originally six Dune books, after all), but hopefully Warner Bros. will answer Villeneuve's dreams of a third movie, given Part Two has high box office prospects (it made back its $190 million budget by Tuesday!) and the universe will even be expanded with the streaming show Dune: Prophecy.
2	Dune (2021 film)	1,248,051
3	Richard Lewis (comedian)	1,232,679	This comedian, best known for his recurring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm as a semi-fictionalized version of himself, died aged 76 on February 27.
4	Shōgun (2024 miniseries)	1,210,277	Improving on its 1980 predecessor, this miniseries, based on the titular bestseller, focuses more on the start of the Asian Saga than on the John Blackthorne character. The 10-episode miniseries premiered on February 27.
5	Self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell	1,105,851	As the Israel-Hamas war is closing its fifth month, to the despair of the Gaza strip population, lots of people worldwide make clear they'd rather see the conflict end, and none were more desperate than an active-duty U.S. Air Force soldier who lit himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in D.C..
6	Dune Messiah (film)	1,074,257	Redirects usually get high views due to page renames. But this one is a whole other deal, as over a million people went for this page, having the expected title for the trilogy closer, taken from the Dune sequel Dune Messiah (which couldn't even get 300,000 views) and instead only entered the "Future" section of #1. In any case, this movie can't be confirmed/made any sooner.
7	Deaths in 2024	1,038,148	Somethin' happened along the way What used to be happy was sad Somethin' happened along the way And yesterday was all we had
8	Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024 TV series)	823,762	Almost 20 years after #9 was animated for Nickelodeon, Aang and the "Benders" were fully visualized for a Netflix series. Released on February 22, it has received praise for its visuals and criticism for its writing.
9	Avatar: The Last Airbender	748,199
10	Shane Gillis	681,638	This controversial comedian who was previously fired from Saturday Night Live in 2019 returned to the show to host an episode, earning mixed to negative reviews and a comparison to Jo Koy.
11	Manjummel Boys	603,151	This Indian survival thriller film based on a true incident of one member of a friend group getting trapped in a cave got released on February 22 to critical acclaim.
12	Pakistan Super League	599,921	PSL 9 kicked off the Twenty20 cricket games on February 17. Lahore Qalandars defend their title across 34 matches.
13	George Galloway	590,904	This British politician, leader of the Workers Party of Britain, won the 2024 Rochdale by-election, a constituency in Greater Manchester, UK. Galloway campaigned on support for Gaza in the Israel–Hamas war, but his win was also made possible by the Labour Party withdrawing support for its candidate after said candidate was recorded alleging Israel allowed the October 7 attacks to happen so as to invade Gaza. Compared to the last election's voter turnout of 60.1%, only 39.7% of eligible voters voted this time, and Galloway coincidentally also won with 39.7% of the vote.
14	ChatGPT	584,485	Yes, ChatGPT makes it onto the list once again as it continues to stay popular. And another offering by OpenAI, Sora, who generates videos based on descriptive prompts, made Tyler Perry delay an expansion of his Atlanta studios.
15	Poor Things (film)	565,448	Emma Stone reunited with the director of The Favorite for a fairly surreal book adaptation where she plays a woman revived with a baby's brain discovering with childish glee what the world has to offer, from the Pastel de Belém to sexual pleasure. Poor Things entered video on demand (with a streaming debut on Hulu/Star to follow) after making over $100 million worldwide, allowing more viewers to discover why it was showered with critical praise and awards, including the Golden Lion in Venice and many accolades for Stone's performance (albeit she's facing quite the competition from Lily Gladstone).
16	Dune (novel)	548,390	Frank Herbert wrote this novel in 1965 and it has since influenced all of sorts of works and gotten a few adaptations, including games, a movie in 1984, a miniseries in 2000, and of course, the two movies atop this list. Herbert wrote five more books before he died in 1986, and his son Brian Herbert has contributed novels of his own since 1999.
17	J. Robert Oppenheimer	536,912	Oppenheimer, chronicling the physicist who helped build the atomic bomb and was later questioned for his loyalty, is going strong through the awards season and has gotten streaming views after being added to Peacock on February 16. And unquestionably #1 hopes to repeat its impressive $900 million box office, given it's also a prestige production with quite a long running time.
18	Mukesh Ambani	535,576	This Indian billionaire businessman and chairman of the most valuable company in India, Reliance Industries, is named by Forbes as the richest person in Asia and 11th richest in the world with an estimate net worth of $112.1 billion. He also threw a lavish wedding party for his youngest son, in which Rihanna performed. Nothing like a billionaire entertaining other billionaires.
19	Taylor Swift	469,715	The pop superstar's Eras Tour concludes its Australian leg and moves to Singapore, where Swift will play six nights. That the city-state is the tour's only stop in Southeast Asia had disappointed Swifties in other countries in the region, and Thai prime minister Srettha Thavisin claimed the Singaporean government paid subsidies of up to US$3 million per show in exchange for exclusivity. The Singaporean government responded that they provided a grant and worked with the concert promoter, but refused to reveal more details. A Philippine politician then weighed in, commenting that "[this] isn't what good neighbors do", and asked his country's foreign affairs department to file an official protest. Who knew a concert tour could cause Bad Blood between countries?
20	Wendy Williams	468,653	The former radio and television host, who in her day was notorious for getting into conflict with the celebrities she interviewed, was diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, the same disorders affecting retired actor Bruce Willis. A documentary series called Where Is Wendy Williams? was released on February 24 and 25.
21	Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild	453,752	Two deaths involving rich, noble Englishmen, namely a member of the Rothschild banking family of England who passed at 87, and the husband of Prince Michael of Kent's daughter (who doesn't have an article, hence views went to the wife) at 45.
22	Lady Gabriella Kingston	434,681
23	Pankaj Udhas	430,193	This ghazal singer became even more popular as a Hindi playback singer. In 2006, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award. He died at age 72 on February 26.
24	Kenneth Mitchell (actor)	428,662	This Canadian actor kept working even after getting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - he even had a role in Star Trek: Discovery that incorporated his wheelchair - and now lost his life to the disease at 49.
25	Premier League	426,817	Keeping off football fan Bob Marley is the English league of that sport, currently led by Liverpool FC.