Universal’s ‘Wicked: For Good’ is ready to soar higher than a broomstick this Thanksgiving, with prerelease tracking pointing to a dazzling $115 million-plus opening weekend. If those numbers hold, the film will once again make musical history, setting a new record for a Broadway adaptation on the big screen.

The second chapter in Jon M. Chu’s ambitious cinematic retelling of the beloved stage hit — chronicling the intertwined fates of the witches of Oz — opens in North America on November 21, the weekend before Thanksgiving, and will roll out globally on the same day.

According to leading market research firm NRG, ‘Wicked: For Good’ is pacing toward a $115 million domestic debut. Insiders who’ve seen the raw tracking data say the number could easily climb higher, possibly hitting or surpassing $120 million.

It’s worth remembering that last year, the first ‘Wicked’ was only projected to open around $85 million domestically — before soaring well past expectations with a record-shattering $112.5 million debut. That same weekend, Paramount’s ‘Gladiator II’ delivered a muscular $55 million bow. This time, however, ‘Wicked: For Good’ has the stage all to itself as the only major studio tentpole opening that weekend. The following Wednesday, Disney Animation’s ‘Zootopia 2’ joins the holiday race, though it won’t appear on tracking until next week.

Advance ticket sales for ‘Wicked: For Good’ are already outpacing those of the first film, though Universal and the filmmakers are keeping expectations grounded with their conservative $115 million estimate.

The original ‘Wicked’ went on to gross nearly $750 million worldwide, still the top-earning Broadway musical adaptation in history — a category that’s often proved tricky for Hollywood.

Reuniting director Jon M. Chu and producer Marc Platt with stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, ‘Wicked: For Good’ finds Glinda the Good Witch and Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, confronting the powerful consequences of their choices. Both stars, and the film itself, are already generating early Oscar buzz, setting the stage for another magical run.

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