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Justin Timberlake's '20/20' Sales Forecast Rises: 750,000-Plus Debut Likely

Justin Timberlake’s new The 20/20 Experience album is selling at an extraordinary rate in the U.S. Industry sources are forecasting that the pop super star’s set could sell as many as 750,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on Sunday, March 24. That number could even grow larger — with 800,000 seemingly within range — as the week progresses.

20/20, released yesterday, March 19, is Timberlake’s first album since 2006’s FutureSex/LoveSounds. With20/20 on course for a 750,000 start, it will easily notch Timberlake’s best sales week ever, bypassing FutureSex‘s debut of 684,000 (according to Nielsen SoundScan).

On March 11, before 20/20 had even come out, sources initially estimated that the RCA Records album was on track to move at least 500,000 in its debut week. As we reported then, that forecast was likely to grown larger once the album reached retailers. Suffice it to say: It did.

iTunes is reportedly leading the way in terms of sales of 20/20, with Target blowing through its stock as well. The latter was the only retailer with an exclusive version of the album. Target’s deluxe CD edition includes two bonus songs unavailable anywhere else: “Dress On” and “Body Count.”

If 20/20 moves 750,000 or more, it will mark the largest sales week for an album by a male artist since 2010, when Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV shifted 964,000 when it debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 dated Sept. 17. The last album, overall, to sell more than 750,000 was Taylor Swift’s Red, which blew in at No. 1 with 1.2 million on the Nov. 10, 2012 list. [Billboard.biz]