The theatre that has hosted the US Academy Awards for the last decade will no longer bear the Kodak name as a result of the iconic company’s bankruptcy. A bankruptcy court on Wednesday approved Kodak’s request to cancel its contract with the theatre, ruling that it was “in the best interests of the debtors, their estates, their creditors and other parties.” The contract between Eastman Kodak and theatre owner CIM was valued at $72 million — $3.6 million per year for 20 years.
The court’s ruling went into effect immediately, but it said CIM “may, but is not required to, delay the removal of the signage associating the theater with the debtors (Kodak).”
The ruling comes just 10 days before the 84th Academy Awards, Hollywood’s premiere prize gala. —