Traffic report
Turkey and a movie
Real world tragedy and fantastical escapism often share space in the Top 10, and this week was no exception. Although the ominous events unfolding in Ferguson, Missouri took the top spot this week, movies and television again dominated the list overall; with current cinematic talking points Interstellar and The Theory of Everything joined by the trailers for the latest entries in the Jurassic Park and Star Wars franchises. The arrival of Thanksgiving in the US also offered some welcome reprieve from the dismal news.
For the full top 25 list, see WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation of any exclusions.
For the week of 23–29 November 2014, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes 1 Shooting of Michael Brown 
2,514,532 
Unsurprisingly, the 24 November decision by the grand jury not to indict the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager from Ferguson, Missouri, led not only to further unrest but also to Brown's death becoming the most sought-after topic on Wikipedia this week. 2 Black Friday (shopping) 
1,963,498 
The day after Thanksgiving is also the day that retailers have earned enough to cover their debts from the previous year, and are thus "in the black" (at least, that's what they say; in truth it probably originated as a reaction to the traffic). Because of this, they often mark down their prices, leading this to become a major day on the shopping calendar and the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season. Over in the UK, where I live, more pious commentators have been staring at this phenomenon with something like horror, decrying its gradual "consecration" as a holy day for the new religion of consumerism. They may be right. 3 Thanksgiving
1,541,622 
The day fell on the 27th this year, which meant numbers doubled this week. A healthy 57% mobile rate suggests the spammers are leaving the article alone at last. After all, who wants Spam with their turkey? 4 Phillip Hughes
1,445,775 
One of the best cricketers in Australia's modern history, at the age of 20, Phillip Hughes scored centuries in both innings at a test match, the youngest player ever to do so. Sadly, he died this week after being hit on the neck by a cricket ball. 5 Stephen Hawking 
1,082,411 
The Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, black hole theorist and latter-day science icon got a boost with the release of the biopic, The Theory of Everything, in the United States on 7 November. Numbers for his article have only gone up since then, as the film opens in more theatres and the awards buzz gets going. It earned $5 million over Thanksgiving weekend, and while that may not seem like much, it's a strong haul for an arthouse release. 6 Interstellar (film)
942,129 
As the above interest in Stephen Hawking shows, movies that win at the box office are seldom the ones that get the most Wikipedia views; rather it is the amount of debate and discussion those movies trigger that seems to be the main driver of Wikipedia interest. Case in point: Interstellar's respectable $147 million domestic box office has paled next to that of Big Hero 6, which opened opposite it, and even The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which opened two weeks after it. And yet, the debates and questions it raised, both scientific and over its own quality, have meant that this film's article has barely fallen in the numbers after three consecutive weeks at number 1. 7 Survivor Series (2014)
847,909 
No, not the TV series, but the latest WWE pay-per-view play; this one more notable than usual due to popular WCW wrestler Sting (pictured) making his WWE début. 8 Jurassic World
811,298 
The fourth film in the Jurassic Park franchise drops next year, but its first trailer appeared this week. It is a curious fact of the modern movie world that trailers themselves now have trailers of their own it's not surprising that this one got one. Still, the actual trailer was released three days early anyway; another curious fact of the modern movie world. 9 Star Wars: The Force Awakens
745,878 
Speaking of trailers for movies marking long-awaited franchise returns next year... Well, I say long-awaited; after the mess George Lucas made of his even longer-awaited prequel trilogy, it's fair to say fans are more than a little equivocal about whatever new owners Disney and admitted Star Wars geek J. J. Abrams have planned to restore the series' reputation. So far, the trailer looks like it gives fans what they want; i.e. pretty much exactly what they already have. 10 Thanksgiving (United States)
721,603 Because it also takes place in Canada.
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Discuss this story
In answer to your question at #3 Thanksgiving, "After all, who wants Spam with their turkey?", perhaps some "residents of the state of Hawaii (who) consume the most Spam per capita in the United States." Peaceray (talk) 04:21, 7 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]