Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/August 6 to 12, 2023

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (August 6 to 12, 2023)

Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga, Marinette2356, and Ollieisanerd.

⭠ Last week's report → Next week's report

August has already shown itself to be a period dominated by movies and sports.

Rank	Article	Views	Image	Notes/about
1	Oppenheimer (film)	2,016,798		The domination of Barbenheimer continues. Both films famously came out on the same day and the visible contrast between the biographical thriller about the inventor of the atomic bomb and the pink-dominated comedy about Mattel's iconic dolls led to a lot of double screenings, resulting in box office success for both releases as the former is now the highest-grossing R-rated film of the year so far while the latter became the first woman-directed film to cross $1 billion worldwide.
2	Barbie (film)	1,668,707
3	J. Robert Oppenheimer	1,642,942	File:Oppenheimerpipe.jpg	The subject of #1, played there by Cillian Murphy, and who in the latest case of theaters featuring reruns of 1989, also had in #13's year a prestige epic featuring him (albeit no one remembers Fat Man and Little Boy, where 'Oppie' was played by Dwight Schultz).
4	Jailer (film)	1,557,669		From Hollywood to two Indian equivalents, a Kollywood thriller with Rajinikanth as a former policeman\jailer helping his son investigate a gangster, and Bollywood going by the new American tradition of late sequels by giving a 2001 action drama a follow-up where Sunny Deol tries to evade a revenge plot amidst the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
5	Gadar 2	1,078,266
6	2023 FIFA Women's World Cup	1,076,859		In the tournament hard for Western hemisphere football fans to follow (at least without losing their sleep), there will be a first time champion: the semifinals are between co-hosts Australia and former colonizers (and Euro champions) England, and the Spain of reigning Best FIFA Women's Player Alexia Putellas against Sweden, who eliminated the last two tournament winners.
7	Deaths in 2023	981,306		I pulled in to Nazareth Was feeling 'bout half past dead...
8	SummerSlam (2023)	928,537		WWE's latest event, held in Detroit, and featuring among other matches Roman Reigns (pictured) defending his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Logan Paul was part of the opening bout, in contrast to his brother (#17) appearing in unstage fighting instead.
9	Johnny Manziel	754,041		Netflix released Untold: Johnny Football, a documentary about a quarterback who in spite of a promising college career got embroiled in so many controversies that his NFL career lasted only two years.
10	Sandra Bullock	702,581		Sad news hit this movie star (last seen in both The Lost City and a cameo in Bullet Train) as her photographer partner Bryan Randall died after three years fighting ALS.
11	FIFA Women's World Cup	677,286		As mentioned above, #6 will crown the fifth winner of this tournament. Spain and England hope to match Germany as the only champions of the football world tournament in both genders (for the other FIFA World Cup winners, Brazil had the tournament's overall biggest scorer but only got as far as the 2007 final, France has the biggest winner of the UEFA Women's Champions League yet their best finish was 4th, and the other three are a long way to go regarding women's football - Italy has at most two quarterfinals, Argentina never left the group stage, and Uruguay never even qualified!).
12	Robbie Robertson	655,638		This Canadian musician died on August 9 at 80. He was mainly known as the guitarist for Bob Dylan and the Band, for whom he also wrote their biggest hits, including "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "Up on Cripple Creek" and most importantly the iconic anthem quoted at #7.
13	Taylor Swift	649,299		After about a dozen Easter eggs, the unstoppable pop musician announced 1989 (Taylor's Version) – her fourth re-recorded album – coming in October 27. It will most certainly dominate the charts in early November, considering the original album's success, previously unreleased "From the Vault" tracks and fans' speculations of a collab with Swift's ex-boyfriend, who supposedly inspired one of the most memorable songs from 1989.
14	Sinéad O'Connor	626,891		The funeral for this Irish singer was held this week, with the Irish president Michael D. Higgins attending along with thousands of others at her funeral procession. O'Connor was known for her controversial protest against the Catholic church and a Prince cover that was named the "#1 World Single" of 1990 at that year's Billboard Music Awards.
15	Lil Tay	587,139		Videos of this then-nine year old girl rapping and flexing went viral online in 2018, then barely anyone had heard her name since. Then, after years of inactivity, her Instagram account posted claiming that Tay and her half-brother had both died. However, many people doubted this, with Tay's former manager saying that the announcement was a stunt to bring her back into the public eye. The day later the post was deleted with her family claiming the account was hacked.
16	Inter Miami CF	574,710		The MLS team founded by a British star and currently employing an Argentinian one (#22) is having a strong showing at the 2023 Leagues Cup, playing the semifinals and either final or third place this week. Maybe they can use that as stimulus when they return to the 2023 MLS season where Miami is currently last overall.
17	Jake Paul	571,972		Nearly six months after this YouTuber turned boxer had his first defeat in the ring, he was back against Nate Diaz, an MMA star making his boxing debut, and Paul won, raising his fight record to 7-1.
18	Harry Kane	554,815		After setting goal-scoring records in the English tournament (not to mention the English Team), this striker changed from a team that famously fails to win the Premier League to a team that famously has no competition in the Bundesliga (seriously, Bayern Munich won the last 11 German tournaments!).
19	Meg 2: The Trench	532,820		Reviewers have not liked this movie, even if audiences had a more positive response liking how, unlike The Meg, the sequel does not take things as seriously and gives more campy thrills one would expect from a movie centered around Jason Statham fighting a prehistoric giant shark. Specially outside North America (where the movie fell to fourth in its second weekend, behind #1, #2, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, which opened below it but had a lower drop), as Meg 2 has nearly doubled its domestic gross in China - helps it features many Chinese cast members! - and most of the total $260 million earnings are international.
20	Margot Robbie	525,714		The portrayer of #2's titular character. Fun fact: Robbie is also the producer of the film and her initial choice for the role was Gal Gadot, who turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. This writer here remains assured there couldn't be a better choice than Robbie herself though.
21	Megan Rapinoe	513,921		One of the faces of the United States women's national soccer team, chosen as the best player of #11's last edition... and who was one of the three missed penalty kicks that sent the Americans back home at #6, so here's to her. But in a more respectful manner, Rapinoe is retiring once the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season ends.
22	Lionel Messi	512,423		#16 certainly got a boost in attention once the Argentinian legend, who last year finally got the World Cup title he was missing, started to don their pink kits. Leo has had goals in every single game of the 2023 Leagues Cup so far, being the tournament's top scorer.
23	Al Nassr FC	480,718		Since it seems the Messi–Ronaldo rivalry needs to manifest whenever the above shows up, Cristiano Ronaldo's Saudi team managed to attract Sadio Mané and Marcelo Brozović to its roster and win the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, riding two CR7 goals in the final. The defeated team, Al Hilal SFC, will reinforce itself in the upcoming season with the addition of Neymar.
24	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	477,167		Whoever didn't contribute to the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe earning nearly $850 million in theaters can now watch it on Disney+. And as production for next year's releases are delayed by strikes that Disney's CEO originally dismissed but is now trying to appease, one wonders if The Marvels is still a sure thing for November.
25	Siddique (director)	467,093		The Indian filmmaker known for his work in Malayalam cinema died on August 8 at 68 after suffering a heart attack the day before.