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The Top 50 Report – 2024

← Last year's report

Annual Top 50

Note: views are accurate through December 20, 2024, and prepared with commentary by:

# Article Class Views Image Notes/about Peak
1 Deaths in 2024 48,527,579 Averaging monthly views of around 3.8 million, this perennial death list was rarely out of monthly top-ten viewings. It only took a dip during the run leading up to #2 and nearly bottomed out of the top 25 the first week of November. Its daily peak (189,300 views) also came late with the announced death of actor John Amos, whose actual death was in August. Oct. 1 (John Amos announced dead)
2 2024 United States presidential election 30,530,978 Nov. 6 (results announced)
3 Kamala Harris 29,371,120 One of the two major-party candidates for #2, endorsed by #10 and running on a ticket with #28 (acknowledging that Chase Oliver, Jill Stein, and multiple other individuals also ran presidential campaigns this year). The silver finalist of that election had a two-decade career in public service before launching the presidential campaign that helped her become the bronze finalist of 2024 Wikipedia page views. A graduate of Howard University and Hastings Law School, Harris's career can be defined with multiple firsts. These include:
  1. First female, African American, or Asian American to be District Attorney of San Francisco
  2. First female, African American, or Asian American to be Attorney General of California, and the first Asian American to be a state attorney general
  3. First Asian American Democrat or African American of any political affiliation to be a United States senator from California, and the first South Asian American to be a member of the United States Senate
  4. First African American or Asian American to be a vice presidential candidate for a major political party
  5. First female, African American, or Asian American to be Vice President of the United States, being the deputy of #17
  6. First female or Asian American to exercise presidential powers (as Acting President of the United States)
  7. First politician from the Western United States to be a Democratic Party presidential candidate, and the first Asian American to be a presidential candidate for any major political party
  8. First Asian American to win a state's popular vote in a presidential election and to be projected to receive non-faithless Electoral College votes
  9. First female or Asian American to be projected to win an Electoral College vote from Nebraska (Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, which Hillary Clinton failed to carry in 2016)
 Jul. 22 (day after announcing her presidential campaign)
4 Donald Trump 26,963,174

He did it. Somehow. I still haven't figured out how. But he did it—this year, Donald Trump, one way or another, managed to be re-elected to a nonconsecutive second term, only the second man in history to pull off such a feat. (Grover Cleveland was the first, 132 years ago.)

Nov. 6 (announced as election winner)
5 Lyle and Erik Menendez 26,840,563 Sept. 21 (2 days after Netflix show)
6 JD Vance 23,828,114 Jul. 15 (announced as Trump's running mate)
7 Deadpool & Wolverine 23,145,656 This year Marvel Studios released only one film (although there were three not-so-good films in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe, they are non-canon to MCU), first time since 2012 when the first Avengers film came out. This film right here yes, it can be compared to the Avengers film because of all the expectations it had, but not just that it also made approx.US$1.3 billion at the global box office emerging as the 2nd highest-grossing film of 2024 and the 20th highest-grossing film of all-time.

Ever since Endgame the MCU had been off tracks, as aside from Shang-Chi, No Way Home and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the movies split opinions, lose money, or both. Adding the firing of Jonathan Majors really put the MCU's future at question... there were even those who thought a soft reboot is necessary to make things work again. On the other end, Fox's X-Men Universe which ended with two not so successful films had its future questioned as well for certain reason actually. One, its star-player (or the Anchor being) Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman in 8 films across 18 years was killed-off (more like a send-off) in the 2017 film, Logan; Two, other than the Deadpool films every film after Logan weren't commercial success; Three but important one, Disney's Acquisition of Century Fox, as result which X-Men character rights retuned to the Marvel Studios. All this had kept long-time X-Men fans waiting to see what's next...? will the characters be brought into MCU, will the beloved actors continue their roles etc.

This film didn't just answer all those stuffs, it definitely delivered the pinnacle entertainment, brought back classic portrayals and MCU is back-in delivering consistent hits! that's right, not just this film but also Agatha All Along which was also a critical success. As for the future, Robert Downey Jr. making his return as Doctor Doom (most likely a variant of Tony Stark) was confirmed and now Chris Evans is set to make his return as well (most likely a variant of Steve Rogers from Endgame). This just adds so much to keep a look out for, because although they confirmed to return in Doomsday, they are most likely to make cameo appearances before that, especially in the 2025 films The Fantastic Four: First Steps (because Doctor Doom and Fantastic Four share so much, it has to be) and Captain America: Brave New World (because its a Captain America film, after all) and also Ironheart (because, Mephisto is confirmed to appear who has ties with Doctor Doom, while Ironheart herself has ties with Iron Man, so its a perfect place).

Jul. 28 (day after release)
8 Project 2025 20,145,373 The race to #2 led to the discussion of a variety of different subjects regarding policies from both presidential candidates, #3 and #5, and the general future of the United States, but no topic held such significance in people's minds than this 900-page document published by the Heritage Foundation outlining a plan for a Republican win in this election that would include the President seizing complete power over the executive branch, the replacement of appointed politicians with people loyal to the President, and the introduction of laws, mandates and values aligning with Christian conservatism.

The documents and the propositions written within it have been subject to dispute across several forms of shared media, with fears of the nation becoming an evangelical autocracy as a result of a Republican win surfacing among large parts of the voterbase, and opposition to the document becoming one of the largest driving forces behind votes for the Democrats.

With #5 now having been re-elected as president, and with several of the authors and individuals behind the document having been appointed to major positions within the new administration, it seems likely that at least parts of the manifesto might see attempts to get officially implemented - however, it is ultimately a matter of time until it becomes evident how much of an impact the manifesto will actually have on future rulings of the government.

Nov. 6 (Republicans win election)
9 ChatGPT 18,433,249 Jun. 11 (release of Apple Intelligence)
10 2024 Indian general election 18,412,242 Jun. 4 (3 days after the end of the election)
11 Taylor Swift 18,071,493 Feb. 12 (day after Super Bowl LVIII, which she attended)
12 Elon Musk 17,655,992 Well, I guess my wish won't be coming true any time soon. Nov. 13 (confirmed on Trump's cabinet)
13 2020 United States presidential election 17,224,711 Nov. 6 (2024 election results)
14 United States 16,997,662 With so many articles on this list being composed of individuals from and events revolving around the US (21 articles to be exact, if also counting people and media from the States in general) as well as a massive part of the Wikipedia userbase being from the US, it's no wonder the country itself has made it onto the list this year as well. 2024 was an especially eventful year for the star-spangled nation, with #2 occurring in its entirety from the lead-up and everything around the candidates (#5 and #17, with #2 later taking on the latter's place) to the election itself, along with general political turbulence and heated discussions on societal and cultural issues. Jul. 15 (2024 Republican National Convention)
15 2024 Summer Olympics 16,204,501 Paris was host to the 33rd Olympiad from July 26 to August 11. It was the third time the city has hosted the Games (1900 and 1924, previously) and the second city after London (4) to host as many. Paris was awarded the host honors in 2017 and was ultimately only in contention with Los Angeles, following numerous withdrawals from other cities. The opening ceremony broke tradition by parading the entrants by boat along the Seine, rather than being held in a stadium. The programme had mixed reviews. Paris broke all-time records for ticket sales, with more than 9.5 million tickets sold.

As for the Games, the U.S. won the most medals (126), but was tied with China in gold medals (40), a first in Olympic history. Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei won the most medals with six (one silver, five bronze), while French swimmer Léon Marchand had the most gold medals with four. American gymnast Simone Biles (#38) won four medals; three of them, gold.

The Games had little controversy, having parity from both genders; the only known controversy arose from a new event added to attract a younger audience. Breakdancing competitions took place on August 9 and 10. Australian Olympian Rachael Gunn received a zero score against three opponents and was the subject of subsequent online bullying regarding her performance, attire, and her position on the Australian team. Gunn also made our weekly report for August 11, at #7.

Jul. 27 (first day of medal events)
16 UEFA Euro 2024 15,622,284 Jun. 26 (final day of Groups E and F)
17 Joe Biden 15,218,207 This octagenarian, who is, believe it or not, still the President of the United States, has had a bumpy year, both in his career and in his Wikipedia viewership. Last year, he saw his views eclipsed by Donald Trump, despite his being the US President and Trump's no longer being so. This year, as he ran for re-election, his views increased by 35 percent, and he was still beaten in views by Donald Trump. His annointed successor, Kamala Harris, beat both handily, which suggests that, sadly, Wikipedia is no substitute for equally inaccurate polls. Nov. 6 (Trump becomes his successor)
18 Kalki 2898 AD 14,968,173 Two biggest Indian films of the year, #37 and this, both from Tollywood has made it onto the Top 50 list, as these two films definitely shattered multiple box office records to emerge as the 2nd and 4th highest-grossing Telugu films of all-time and as the 3rd and 7th highest-grossing Indian films of all-time (#35) respectively.

This epic science-fiction action film directed by Nag Ashwin (pictured) and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies, starring an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Deepika Padukone and Disha Patani was released in the last week of June and opened to positive reviews. Inspired by Hindu scriptures, it is the first instalment in a planned Kalki Cinematic Universe with a second film titled Kalki 2898 AD: Part 2 to enter production in February 2025. Set in a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2898 AD, this film follows a select group who are on a mission to save lab subject SUM-80's unborn child, Kalki.

Jun. 28 (day after release)
19 Cristiano Ronaldo 14,669,815 Jul. 5 (eliminated from Euros)
20 Sean Combs 13,878,938 Mar. 26 (Homeland Security raids his properties)
21 Griselda Blanco 13,617,318 Netflix already spent quite some time telling the story of notable drug dealers on Narcos and Narcos: Mexico. So earlier this year the subject returned with Griselda, where Sofía Vergara played the ex-wife of a former Colombian drug lord who became a "Godmother" of the cocaine business in Florida, and even caused many of the deaths in the Miami drug war. The DEA arrested her in 1985, and Blanco only left prison due to a compassionate release for frail health in 2004, returning to Colombia and being murdered execution-style 8 years later, at the age of 69. Jan. 28 (3 days after Griselda)
22 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 13,236,791 Aug. 24 (day after withdrawing presidential campaign)
23 Dune: Part Two 13,147,397 Mar. 3 (ends opening weekend atop the box office)
24 Liam Payne 12,948,772 Oct. 17 (announcement of death)
25 Shōgun (2024 TV series) 12,394,874 Feb. 28 (day after episode 2)
26 Sabrina Carpenter 12,207,635 She made her acting debut with a guest role on one of the longest running TV series in 2011. In January 2013, she got casted in a Disney series as a tomboyish, social and street-smart girl, which kick-started her acting career along with her singing career. But it wasn't until 2015, when she released her debut studio album, a teen-pop album with elements of pop folk which kick-started her musical career.

After nearly 9 years since her debut album (along the way she had 4 albums and a few films and some TV appearances as well) this year, came her sixth studio album...! Sabrina even served as the opening act in Taylor Swift's Eras Tour to promote her then upcoming sixth album Short n' Sweet. The first single "Espresso" was released on April 11 and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She followed it with the second single, "Please Please Please" on June 6, which became her first US Hot 100 number one single. With these songs, she became the first female artist to hold the number one and two positions on the UK singles chart for three weeks in a row. She was featured as musical guest on Saturday Night Live season 49 finale where she performed Espresso along with a medley of two other songs and also portrayed Daphne Blake in a pre-recorded sketch.

The album was released on August 23 and debuted atop the Billboard 200. All songs from the album charted above top 50 on the Hot 100. The third single, "Taste" was released alongside the album and debuted at number two on the Hot 100. The three singles have remained simultaneously in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks, a record for any female artist in history. Sabrina also became the first artist in 71 years to spend 20 weeks atop the UK singles chart in a calendar year, with "Taste" becoming the longest-running UK number one of 2024.

In September, Sabrina embarked on the Short n' Sweet Tour, her first arena tour also teased a Netflix holiday special, A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter, in which she served as a producer. The special was released on December 6, and featured duets with Chappell Roan, Tyla, among others. On December 10, it was reported that "Espresso" garnered the most streams globally on Spotify during 2024, hitting 1.6 billion streams. She also won and got nominated for a handful of awards this year, but it would require maybe two paragraphs to list them here at this rate, so just head over to her awards page and see them if wanted (just know there were a total of 38 nominations this year alone).

Aug. 23 (Short n' Sweet released)
27 World War II 12,137,121 Jun. 6 (80th anniversary of D-Day)
28 Tim Walz 11,750,886 Aug. 6 (announced as #3's running mate)
29 Israel–Hamas war 11,446,688 Apr. 14 (Iranian missiles hit Israel)
30 J. Robert Oppenheimer 11,390,333 Feb. 18 (Oppenheimer wins BAFTAs)
31 House of the Dragon 11,365,007 Aug. 5 (day after season finale)
32 India 11,307,597 Like my home country (#14), India was once part of the British Empire, with George VI serving as their last emperor. Now, 77 years after their independence in 1947, the most powerful economy in the Commonwealth of Nations by nominal GDP has a coalition government led by Narendra Modi, thanks to the say of voters in #11.

More tangentially, various political figures in #14 whose ancestors hail from India have made headlines in 2024, including:

  1. No. 3 becoming the United States Democratic Party nominee after #17 dropped out
  2. The wife of #6 slating to become the first Second Lady of the United States to practice Hinduism
  3. Vivek Ramaswamy running for president as a Republican and being appointed to chair the Department of Government Efficiency
  4. Nikki Haley also running for president as a Republican and becoming the first female United States Republican Party member to win a presidential primary, in Washington, D.C.

Finally, current events aside, as a user interested in linguistics, I have been fascinated by the number of languages of India. Contrary to assumptions in my social circle, English and Hindi are far from the only tongues spoken in the country!

Aug. 22 (opposition protests)
33 Poor Things (film) 11,292,414 Mar. 11 (day after winning 4 Oscars)
34 List of highest-grossing Indian films 11,210,722 They don't say "Indian cinema is the second biggest film industry in the world after Hollywood" for nothing... or is it?

Two biggest Indian films of the year, Pushpa 2 (#37) and Kalki 2898 AD (#18), both from Tollywood has made it onto the Top 50 list, as these two films definitely shattered multiple box office records to emerge as the 2nd and 4th highest-grossing Telugu films of all-time and as the 3rd and 7th highest-grossing Indian films of all-time respectively. On an overall look, out of the top 10 grossing films 4 has came from Tollywood, with 5 from Bollywood but, out of the top 5, 3 from Tollywood and only one from Bollywood. Although Kollywood has actors with international fandom unlike others it couldn't make it past 15th place. At the end of 2024, the top 3 highest-grossing Indian films are Dangal (2016 – Bollywood film), Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017 – Tollywood film) and Pushpa 2.

Now considering the numbers as of 15 December 2024,

  • Pushpa 2 had made ₹1,416 crore (US$170 million) which is 16.59% (11.86% in 2023) of Alice in Wonderland and 5.81% (4.09% in 2023) of Avatar.
  • Baahubali 2 made ₹1,811 crore (equivalent to ₹25 billion or US$300 million in 2023) which is 29.27% (20.94% in 2023) of Alice in Wonderland and 10.26% (7.23% in 2023) of Avatar.
  • Dangal made ₹2,500 crore (equivalent to ₹36 billion or US$420 million in 2023) which is 41.95% (30.01% in 2023) of Alice in Wonderland and 14.71% (10.36% in 2023) of Avatar.

For comparison with Hollywood,

Dec. 14 (Pushpa 2 becomes third overall)
35 Pushpa 2: The Rule 11,194,679 Two biggest Indian films of the year, this and #18, both from Tollywood has made it onto the Top 50 list, as these two films definitely shattered multiple box office records to emerge as the 2nd and 4th highest-grossing Telugu films of all-time and as the 3rd and 7th highest-grossing Indian films of all-time (#35) respectively.

This action-drama film directed by Sukumar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, starring Allu Arjun (pictured) in the titular role, alongside Rashmika Mandanna, and Fahadh Faasil was released in the first week of December and opened to positive reviews. It is the second instalment in the Pushpa film series with a third film in the series titled Pushpa 3: The Rampage set to be released in 2028 or early 2029. This film follows Pushpa Raj, a small-time daily wagerer risen to the ranks of sandalwood smuggler, who struggles to sustain his business as he faces tough opposition from the police led by Shekhawat.

Dec. 6 (release)
36 Saltburn (film) 11,133,640 Jan. 8 (TikToks by owner of filming location become viral)
37 Sydney Sweeney 11,028,820 Mar. 3 (hosted Saturday Night Live)
38 Mike Tyson 10,892,857 Nov. 16 (day after Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson)
39 Chappell Roan 10,525,869 Nov. 3 (musical guest on Saturday Night Live)
40 Simone Biles 10,286,200 Rio 2016 saw this American dominating the Olympic gymnastics. The following years had her becoming the most decorated gymnast ever, so expectations for a repeat in Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021) were so high Biles had a goat in her leotard to back the claim she was the Greatest Of All Time... and then she started feeling unwell and doing basic mistakes, and withdrew from most events fearing she could injure herself doing some elaborate acrobatics, leaving with only a silver and a bronze. After a sabbatical year to recover, Biles wrecked the competition at the 2023 World Championships and thus was set to redeem herself in Paris 2024 (#15), with the preparations even covered by Netflix on Simone Biles Rising. And indeed, right away came three golds, turning Biles into the second most successful female gymnast ever at the Olympics. Having done enough, Biles was overtaken in the final events by her South American equivalent Rebeca Andrade, and showed she was a graceful loser by bowing before the Brazilian in the floor podium. And given the next Olympics are in her home turf, maybe Biles will only retire after Los Angeles 2028. Jul. 31 (won first gold the day before)
41 Dune (2021 film) 10,174,356 Mar. 2 (sequel in theaters)
42 Civil War (film) 10,039,160 Apr. 12 (US & UK release)
43 Gladiator II 10,027,484 That this movie finished above Inside Out 2 is a bit perplexing. That Deadpool and Wolverine and Dune Part Two top this list, despite having grossed far less than Inside Out 2, is not surprising, given that Wikipedia users tend to skew towards the 18-29 demographic, the target audience for said films. But this film, despite a 24-year buildup, has had relatively little buzz and, in the US at least, has been completely overshadowed by Wicked, which even beat it in its opening weekend. Gladiator's strong international showing does suggest that the American dominion of the English Wikipedia may be waning. Nov. 17 (2 days after US release)
44 2016 United States presidential election 10,006,824 Eight years before #2 occurred (as this user still vividly remembers), the United States Republican Party nominated #5 as their presidential candidate for the first time, albeit with Mike Pence instead of #6 as the running mate. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party nominated Hillary Clinton, the first woman to be a major-party presidential candidate in #14. Furthermore, among even more contenders, the United States Libertarian Party nominated Gary Johnson, and just like in #2, the United States Green Party nominated Jill Stein as their candidate. As someone with a keen interest in psephology, here are two other trivial facts about this election:
  1. As of this post, Hillary Clinton remains the only woman to win the national popular vote in an American presidential election, as #3 received approximately two million fewer votes than #5.
  2. The Silver State voted for Clinton in 2016 (and for #17 in #13) yet against #3 in 2024, the only state to do so.
 Nov. 6 (2024 results)
45 Oppenheimer (film) 9,967,530 Mar. 11 (day after winning 7 Oscars)
46 Lionel Messi 9,916,609 Jul. 15 (day after 2024 Copa América final)
47 Premier League 9,836,223 2024 marked one more year of proeminence for England's football league, the richest in the world and that provided the most players at the European championship (#16) with 104, including 3 of the victorious Spanish. The championship itself had Manchester City becoming the first team with four straight titles, while Arsenal F.C. again choked away an opportunity to break a drought that completed 20 years, back to the undefeated 2003-04 squad. And here on Wikipedia, a sizeable portion of the Premier League's pageviews come from cricket fans who were searching for the Indian Premier League (which is excluded from this Report for excessive mobile views) and arrived on another continent and sport. Apr. 14 (round 33, Arsenal misses chance... plus 2 IPL matches)
48 Fallout (American TV series) 9,813,371 Apr. 12 (2 days after release)
49 Imane Khelif 9,726,563 The nontroversy surrounding this Algerian boxer and her hormone levels only lasted less than a month, but was so fiery with so many punchy headlines that it managed to make this list. You know how trans people competing in any sport, at any level, at any time in history seems to reignite the culture war sparks? Now we don't even need to wait for that to happen to have useless discussions over who's "allowed" to be in sports – even cisgender women can stoke the flames.

Last year, the International Boxing Association, an organization that's been barred from involvement in the Olympics since 2019 for its lack of transparency about its finances and leadership, disqualified Khelif for having what they deemed heightened testosterone levels. Thing is, how they tested this, who tested it, or if they even really did test it never actually became clear, and Khelif has never actually been shown to have elevated testosterone levels. Khelif was nonetheless painted online as an ogrish, testosterone-laden beast this year at the Summer Olympics after defeating an Italian boxer, who bowed out in 46 seconds in a rare, tear-filled move, citing a Falcon Punch-level blow that left her in too much pain to continue. Though she never attributed this to Khelif's hormones, it was too late – her tears flowed into the water mill powering the outrage machine, and figures like J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk descended upon this story like vultures to a carcass and alleged that Khelif was secretly a man trying to ruthlessly beat women by using silly excuses like "having a passion for boxing" and "wanting to be a boxer". (And, wouldn't you know it, that gaggle of voices included none other than America's soon-to-be commander-in-chief!)

Everything about this story is pretty pathetic (specially for overshadowing Khelif's gold medal), but at least it's a sign of the direction of things to come: downhill, and rapidly. And with #? in office, I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty more like it. Yippee.

Aug. 1 (wins first fight at #15, leading to outcry)
50 Inside Out 2 9,718,621 A return to form for the once-unstoppable Pixar Studios, and a joyful (pun intended) nostalgia trip for those who were children when its predecessor came out (nine years ago!), it's no surprise that this animated family film topped the worldwide box office not only in its native US but outside it as well. Here's hoping this bodes well for their next project, the scifi movie Elio, due in June. Jun. 15 (day after US release)

Top 50 plausibility

# Article Class Views Image Notes/about Peak
54 Wicked (2024 film) 9,181,101

Exclusions

Toolforge's list, along with not including redirect views (for instance, Shōgun got half its views as Shōgun (2024 miniseries), back when it seemed to have no further seasons) and excluding the pages we eliminate for suspicious numbers or activities:

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