Wikipedia:Top 25 Report

Prepared with commentary by Igordebraga and Bkissin.

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (March 15 to 21, 2026)

⭠ Last week's report

A movie-heavy report, with Hollywood awarding their favorites, Bollywood releasing a blockbuster... and atop all, the man the boogeyman looks for in his closet.

More information Rank, Article ...

Rank	Article	Class	Views	Image	Notes/about
1	Chuck Norris		5,067,522		"Chuck Norris didn't die… death just finally got his permission." So, with one of the Chuck Norris facts out of the way, let's acknowledge how after 86 years arrived the time for Carlos Ray Norris, a martial arts expert and Air Force veteran that was one of the icons of 80s and 90s action starring in movies like Invasion U.S.A., Missing in Action and The Delta Force, plus the show Walker, Texas Ranger, leading to him being acknowledged as one of the ultimate badasses on the Internet, something acknowledged in his last movie, The Expendables 2 ("I heard another rumor. That you were bitten by a king cobra." "Yeah, I was. But after five days of agonizing pain, the cobra died."). The only things that could stop him were Bruce Lee in Chuck's first credited role, The Way of the Dragon, and a paddle.
2	Dhurandhar: The Revenge		2,604,717		India's highest-grossing movie of last year (#18), that also got some international fans through Netflix, returns through a sequel filmed simultaneously with the first, still featuring Ranveer Singh as a former death row inmate turned covert operative infiltrating terrorist organizations. It's a certainty this will wreck the box office all over again, as the ₹750 crore opening weekend of The Revenge was both half of what Dhurandhar earned and the second biggest ever behind Pushpa 2: The Rule (which coincidentally stands right above Dhurandhar in the box office list).
3	98th Academy Awards		2,164,868		The Oscars were on Sunday, with the ceremony trying to go faster and avoid being overlong, though still making sure to include several opera and ballet-themed jabs at the star of Marty Supreme (which ended up losing all of its nine nominations). The entry below ended up becoming the big winner with six awards, including Best Picture and the new category, Best Casting (next year there's another introduction, Best Stunts). The other three multiple winners were #7 (4), Frankenstein (3) and KPop Demon Hunters (2). There was also Sentimental Value taking Best Foreign Picture, awards for #8, #10, the effects of Avatar: Fire and Ash and the sound of F1, and the unusual sight of a tie for Best Live-Action Short.
4	One Battle After Another		1,985,271		This film by #12 discussing political violence in the United States through Leonardo DiCaprio played a retired freedom fighter returning to arms to rescue his daughter won big at #3, with 6 awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Screenplay for #12, Best Supporting Actor for #25, Best Editing, and Best Casting. It has also become culturally ubiquitous, with some sources drawing comparisons between US officials and characters in the film.
5	2026 Iran war		1,627,843		The war continues, with each side attacking critical energy infrastructure and destabilising the global economy. The US President has shifted mercurially in his messaging about the conflict, both talking about an exit and end to the conflict, blaming allies for attacking particular areas, and continued Saber rattling for additional attacks on Iranian power plants. So things are about the same...
6	Michael B. Jordan		1,415,165		Ryan Coogler made a movie where vampires crashed the opening of a juke joint, and the result had a record-breaking 16 nominations at #3, winning four of them: Best Cinematography, Best Score (worth noting Best Song nominee "I Lied to You" was one of two to earn a show-stopping performance at the ceremony, alongside winner "Golden"), Best Original Screenplay, and last but not least, Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, certainly making his accomplishments now comparable to the ones of the other Michael Jordan.
7	Sinners (2025 film)		1,405,482
8	Amy Madigan		1,243,309		Jordan wasn't the only actor getting an Oscar for a horror movie, given the portrayer of the peculiar yet intimidating Aunt Gladys of Weapons (#24) scored Best Supporting Actress, 40 years after her first nomination for Twice in a Lifetime (the longest gap between acting nominations for a woman, and second overall). With a funny speech and an eye-catching jacket, Madigan only missed doing the film's trademark run like she did at the Actor Awards.
9	Benjamin Netanyahu		1,180,478		Israelis will be going to the polls in October, and the Prime Minister is hoping that success in #5 will help distract people from numerous domestic scandals and continued international isolation. So far opinion polls still put his conservative/revisionist Zionist Likud party ahead with 28 projected seats, far from the 61 needed to form a government in the Knesset. Whether the opposition parties from the left to the right are able to unite against him remains to be seen.
10	Jessie Buckley		1,167,281		After winning basically all Best Actress awards beforehand for Hamnet (#19), this British actress also got it at #3 to no one's surprise, meaning that 13 years after Anne Hathaway got her Oscar it was time for someone to do so playing her namesake. And connected to the ceremony giving awards to Frankenstein, Buckley is currently in theaters with a quirky version of said story, The Bride!
11	Joe Kent		1,172,557		The Director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center made news this week when he resigned his position in protest of #5, saying that the United States did not face an imminent threat from Iran prior to the war.
12	Paul Thomas Anderson		1,019,979		Out of his nine previous movies, only Punch-Drunk Love and The Master did not score him any Academy Award nominations. So at #3, #4 provided Anderson with his overdue Oscar - in fact, three, namely Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay (even if the movie only takes some inspiration from Vineland) and Best Picture as one of its producers. His wife Maya Rudolph also went on stage to present awards alongside the other stars of Bridesmaids.
13	Cesar Chavez		1,017,585		This Mexican-American civil-rights activist, who fought for the rights of migrant farm workers in California and was one of the founders of the United Farm Workers union, tarnished his legacy when fellow activist Dolores Huerta alleged that Chavez (who died in 1993) repeatedly raped and impregnated her. In addition to Huerta, there were allegations that Chavez had also sexually assaulted numerous adolescent girls in the 1970s. In response to the allegations, Cesar Chavez Day, an annual celebration of Chavez and other Chicano and Mexican-American contributions to America, was cancelled, and communities with infrastructure named after Chavez had to reckon with how to move forward.
14	Deaths in 2026		987,966		OK, one more of #1's facts: "It's been said that death once had a near-Chuck Norris experience."
15	Nicholas Brendon		983,254		This American actor, known primarily for his role of Xander in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, faced a lot of personal difficulties in the years following the end of the series, with multiple stints in jail and rehab as he struggled with addiction. Brendon died on March 20 and his Buffy castmates all shared their condolences online.
16	Project Hail Mary (film)		717,842		The big film release of the week, adapting a book by the same author of The Martian, has Ryan Gosling as an astronaut who awakens in another star system not remembering how he got there, and recovering his memories as he tries to discover how to prevent small critters from blocking out the Sun. Widely praised for impressive visuals, an engaging story and many funny moments, Project Hail Mary opened with a solid $141 million weekend, so soon it should recoup its $200 million budget.
17	Ali Larijani		669,206		This Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran was actually believed to be the person really running things in the wake of the Assassination of Ali Khamenei in the early days of #5, with several Western sources viewing him as Iran's most powerful man. Larijiani faced the same fate as Khamenei on March 17, being killed in an airstrike.
18	Dhurandhar		657,623		Released last December, this Bollywood action film was filmed simultaneously with its second part, up there at, adequately, #2. Showing India's love for longer movies, watching both in succession is a demanding task lasting over 7 hours.
19	Hamnet (film)		692,838		Adapting a novel showing William Shakespeare processing the death of his firstborn Hamnet by writing the seminal Hamlet, this emotionally charged production by Oscar winner Chloe Zhao had eight nominations at #3 and converted one, Best Actress for #10 playing Shakespeare's wife Agnes Hathaway (also historically known as Anne, but that name is currently taken by someone else).
20	Spider-Man: Brand New Day		615,484		4 months before it gets to theaters, Marvel finally released the first trailer for the Webhead's return, now featuring the Hulk and the Punisher. Missing from the trailer was Stranger Things star Sadie Sink, rumored to be playing Jean Grey. The week also had the trailer for another Zendaya blockbuster, Dune: Part Three, that opens the same day as the other MCU release of the year.
21	Saint Patrick's Day		606,763		This religious holiday celebrating the arrival of Christianity in Ireland has morphed into a celebration of Irish heritage and culture in countries like the United States and Canada, both of whom have large Irish diaspora populations. The holiday, celebrated annually on March 17, has expanded outside of the diaspora and is widely celebrated by people all over these countries, often by wearing green and drinking heavily.
22	2026 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election		587,750		And they're off! The race has started in this Indian state election, as the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the election on March 15. The election, looking like a race between the incumbent All India Trinamool Congress and its allies versus the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will take place on April 23 and April 29. The state of West Bengal, which includes the city of Kolkata, has nearly 65 million voters, hence the reason for multiple days of voting.
23	The Madison (TV series)		572,679		This streaming series on Paramount+ is another show in the Taylor Sheridan-iverse. This one, like the others, involves a gruff older established actor (in this case Kurt Russell) playing the patriarch to a family living in rural Montana. The first season premiered on Paramount+ on March 14.
24	Weapons (2025 film)		570,898		Along with #7, the most discussed horror film of last year, regarding the mystery of a whole classroom of children vanishing into the night. #3 both awarded the film's antagonist #8, and was not caring about spoiling the film, with the opening sketch featuring host Conan O'Brien dressed as Aunt Gladys and recreating the ending where she is pursued by the children, this time around entering other nominees - including an animated segment in KPop Demon Hunters!
25	Sean Penn		568,350		Finishing #3's victorious actors is the Best Supporting Actor, who played an angry, racist and quite crazy military man at #4, his third Oscar after wins for Mystic River and Milk. Penn was absent from the ceremony (presenter Kieran Culkin made sure to joke "Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening — or didn’t want to!") as he was filming a documentary in Ukraine, leading to an improvised award days later.

Close

Bonus ten, if only for completeness' sake

• 26: Robert Mueller - The former FBI director died. Given his quarrels with Trump and a notable investigation into Russian electoral interference, the man's response was insensitive and highly criticized.
• 27: Dawood Ibrahim - #2 has Danish Iqbal portraying this gangster.
• 28: World Baseball Classic - Two months after the United States had a military intervention in Venezuela, the tables were turned in baseball, as Venezuela beat the U.S. team in Miami.
• 29: Ryan Coogler - Won Best Original Screenplay for #7.
• 30: Timothée Chalamet - His work in Marty Supreme was beaten by #6, and there were jokes about a quote of his regarding ballet and opera. The trailer for his next film Dune: Part Three also came out this week.
• 31: Ed Harris - A four time Oscar nominee who is #8's husband since they met making Places in the Heart more than 40 years ago.
• 32: Academy Awards - The big ceremony that opened the week. #4, #7, and #19 were up for Best Picture, and the other seven nominees were far from entering the list (winner #4 had more views than all of them combined, and only Marty Supreme broke 400k).
• 33: Banksy - Reuters published an article claiming to have found the identity of the subversive street artist.
• 34: Chase Infiniti - In spite of her work in #4 being skipped over for Best Actress, she was still at #3, being one of five actors who presented the new Best Casting category - won by her movie, nonetheless!
• 35: Autumn Durald Arkapaw - The first woman (a Black one, no less!) to win Best Cinematography, for her work in #7.