"The trick is how you handle things when things don't go great, " he told Rolling Stone of the disappointing box office receipts.

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"As I was looking at the box-office numbers rolling in that weekend, the power of local content really hit me, " says Mr. Panitch.

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But this is the time of year when studios start slowly rolling out smaller movie they hope will develop good word of mouth and grow at the box office (and then land lots of Oscar nominations).

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