Regal Entertainment Group signed a deal to bring 1,500 more 3-D movie screens from RealD Corp. to its theatres in the domestic market. Regal Entertainment Group is one of the largest cinema chains in the United States. This measure is supposed to be a step forward in the struggle to keep customers coming to movie theatres rather than watching DVD’s at home.

The Regal deal is the largest commitment to 3-D by any movie theatre chain, the companies said, raising the number of screens running RealD's 3-D technology to over 3,500.

Theatres have to be outfitted with digital projectors and then can add 3-D technology.

“We look forward to the finalization of the DCIP deals, which will allow Regal to commence the expanded 3-D roll-out,” said Mike Campbell, Chief Executive Officer and chairman of Regal Entertainment Group, the largest movie chain operator with 6,763 screens in 551 locations.

Regal, Cinemark Holdings Inc and AMC Entertainment Inc AC. N, which are DCIP’s members said that the group was forced to delay the financing deal with studios to deploy cinema digital technology to the second quarter of 2008. Initially, they hoped to finish the deal by the fourth quarter of 2007.

The 3-D concert movie “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of both Worlds Concert Tour” was a success. It grossed nearly $30 million in its opening weekend.

In a statement, Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, a leading proponent of 3-D films, said he believed the Regal and RealD partnership “marks a defining moment for the greatest transformation in movie-going in 70 years.”