MUMBAI: Having already deployed 220 screens across 23 cities in India and with plans for a further 250 screens by next year, Scrabble Entertainment has now decided to spread its wings into the Middle East, a region that shares similar characteristics to the Indian theatrical marketplace. The roll out will commence in early 2011 and will cover the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Jordon and Syria. Scrabble will be the first deployment entity in the Middle East, The company will deploy over 400 screens in the region over the next two years. To facilitate the deployment in this region, Scrabble has signed non–exclusive digital cinema deployment agreements with five major Hollywood studios - 20th Century Fox International, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, Paramount Pictures International, Universal Pictures International and Warner Bros Pictures. In response to the broad 3D slate announced by the major studios, Scrabble aims to significantly increase the number of screens capable of playing 3D content within the region Said Scrabble Entertainment CEO Ranjit Thakur,“Scrabble Entertainment has already managed to gain a strong foothold in the Indian entertainment market. We now have a much better understanding of the business. Since our funding and infrastructure is in place, it’s time to move to other markets.”