Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/December 8 to 14, 2024

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (December 8 to 14, 2024)

Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, CanonNi, Shuipzv3, Vestrian24Bio.

Rank	Article	Views	Notes/about
1	Bashar al-Assad	4,026,589	Syria's controversial ruler for over twenty years, Assad and his government were recently overthrown in #4. He has fled to Russia, a country ruled by another twenty-year long ruler, and given political assylum. What he plans to do is unknown. One thing is for sure: he isn't returning to Syria (#3) anytime soon.
2	Pushpa 2: The Rule	4,023,277	A sequel after 3 years since the first film and a third film is on the way. Released a week ago the film has already made a collection of ₹1,106 crore (US$130 million) to emerge as the second highest-grossing Indian film of the year, fourth highest-grossing film in India and the eight highest-grossing Indian film (#5).
3	Syria	2,563,423	A civil war that has been going on for thirteen years was only the most recent part of Syria's decades-long sociopolitical chaos, and the conflict has regained international attention following the opposition taking over capital Damascus (#21) and ousting #1 (#20). The war is far from over, and with neighboring countries launching invasions, heavy fighting continues, and the country's future is an uncertain one.
4	Syrian civil war	1,822,405
5	List of highest-grossing Indian films	1,270,262	Indian cinema definitely has a important part in the International film industry. With #2 reaching new feats its no wonder this list made it onto the list. Out of the top 8 grossing films 4 has came from Tollywood, with 3 from Bollywood. Although Kollywood has actors with international fandom unlike others it couldn't make it past 15th place.
6	Gukesh Dommaraju	1,200,900	The world of chess welcomes its newest World Champion, Gukesh. Having played Chess since the age of seven and winning several championships throughout his career, Gukesh is only 18 years old, a remarkable age for a grandmaster. He defeated Ding Liren, who's nearly double his age, in a close battle (#17), narrowly winning by a single point. Checkmate. (well, not really. Ding resigned before Gukesh could do that)
7	Asma al-Assad	1,079,427	#1's wife, she has also fled to Russia along with her three kids. Despite being born in the UK and retaining its citizenship, the UK government has said that she isn't welcome and is considering sanctions.
8	Killing of Brian Thompson	1,057,985	Brian Thompson, a low-profile businessman and CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot dead in downtown Manhattan by Luigi Mangione. His exact motive is unclear: some say it was revenge for his family members' denied claims, while others say it was political. The killing itself was also controversial, with some claiming it was justified and others offering condolences to Thompson's family. Whatever the case, the incident was one of the most famous killings of 2024, and Thompson has been added to #10.
9	Brian Thompson (businessman)	1,026,961
10	Deaths in 2024	1,000,904
11	28 Years Later	999,687	A successful post-apocalyptic horror film duology released by the 20th Century Studios (or then 20th Century Fox) in 2002 and 2007. After years of development hell, a trilogy of sequels were confirmed this January; with Cillian Murphy to reprise his role in all three films but also following the Disney-Fox acquisition, the trilogy is to be distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. ODD! isn't it? the same company who made #12 and its franchise for desperate cash-grab attempts, taking on another was successful series which also coincidently stars the lead actor of #12... (something gives me a bad feeling about it); Anyways, the first film in the sequel trilogy released its trailer last week, and it had a way better reception than #12's trailer did when it came out... although it left Cillian Murphy fans kind of disappointed.
12	Kraven the Hunter (film)	999,085	Sony's Spider-Man Universe without ever showing Spider-Man is finally coming to an end! That's right, Sony's desperate attempt to cash grab by making films posing Spider-Man villains as protagonists, which gave many fans a nightmarish experience (with the exception of the Venom trilogy, and even those are far from actually good) and ruined the greatest quote in the Marvel history is over. Because no one wanted to see this film (with some calling its not even a proper film) which starred Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the titular role (a Russian big game hunter who in the comics hunts Spidey, but here goes after poachers and criminals), it ended up as a financial failure bringing in only $4.7 million in the opening day against a budget of $130 million, demolishing any hopes of a sequel (God... no). So, it's over for this so-called franchise! Now hopefully, Sony decides to end its desperate cash-grab attempts and returns the copyright of Marvel characters back to Marvel Studios, so they can finally incorporate them properly into the greater MCU.
13	Hafez al-Assad	912,120	#1's father and a consequential figure in the Arab world, Assad ruled #3 for thirty years, before passing the office to his son upon his death. He was also the core of the Assad family, which was overthrown in #4.
14	Killing of Jordan Neely	893,198	While this incident occured way back in May 2023, recent developments have again attracted attention. Daniel Penny, who is mostly responsible for the killing, was acquitted from muder charges after the conclusion of a two month-long trial. Trials not yet over, as a wrongful death suit by Neely's father is still pending in the courts.
15	Black Doves	833,261	A Netflix spy thriller series.
16	Abu Mohammad al-Julani	801,655
17	World Chess Championship 2024	768,917	In this annual championship, #6 defeated Ding by a single point, becoming the youngest world champion ever. The ending was equally as dramatic, with Ding resigning from the final decisive game after blundering on what should've been a simple move.
18	Wicked (2024 film)	765,945	The musical adaptation providing a sympathetic view of the Wicked Witch of the West is still here. And given vFjf10HkA fans were belting along to the soundtrack in theaters to mixed reactions by other patrons, they will at least get the perfect opportunity to do so with a sing-along re-release.
19	Benny Blanco	737,034	A record producer and songwriter who has worked with dozens of top artists, Blanco has also dated Selena Gomez since June 2023. The couple made public their engagement on December 11.
20	Fall of the Assad regime	736,612	The Assad family, which has been in power since #13 took over in 1971, was overthrown by a coalition of rebel forces. In Damascus, the country's capital, statues of Assad have been toppled and many of his former political prisoners have been freed. Tahrir al-Sham (#21), a paramilitary organization, is the largest faction in the Syrian opposition and one of the leaders during the offensive. The group is far from peaceful, being designated a terrorist group by the UN and accused of human rights violations, which they have denied. A transitional government is now in power, with Mohammed al-Bashir, who is affiliated with #22, in power. Furthermore, neighboring countries have begun invading the fragile country, and chaos continues for Syria's citizens.
21	2024 Syrian opposition offensives	597,433
22	Tahrir al-Sham	592,422
23	Secret Level	590,523	This Prime Video animated anthology series consisting of fifteen animated, standalone short stories based on different video games and franchises, had its (first 8 episodes) released last week.
24	2024 Israeli invasion of Syria	587,220	Benjamin Netanyahu continues to wage war and make himself unpopular as once #20 made the Syrian army leave the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, he decided it violated the border agreement set 50 years ago after the Yom Kippur war and ordered his troops to move along Syria, occupying the Purple Line, while also sending aerial and naval strikes on Syrian military targets. The international community obviously didn't like this, and Syria's new president downright said the country is not in position to be drawn into another conflict.
25	Gladiator II	582,588	Moana 2 fell off, but another Hollywood sequel remains here. With a deviously evil Denzel Washington and elaborate action scenes that at times get absurd (a gladiatorial battle on boats inside a flooded Colosseum!) to win over those who found it an unnecessary sequel, Gladiator II should soon cross $400 million worldwide. Gladiator star Russell Crowe, who obviously wouldn't return as his character died, has reportedly been very negative about the project.