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In 2003, Campbell Scott and Hope Davis starred together in a quirky but little-seen drama called The Secret Lives of Dentists. They team up once again for this film based on the children's picture book How It Was With Dooms: A True Story from Africa, by Xan Hopcraft and Carol Cawthra Hopcraft.

The movie adaptation of the book will also be targeted solidly at children and family audiences, most likely the same demographic that helped make Secondhand Lions a surprise sleeper hit.

Echoing earlier kids stories such as Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, and My Dog Skip, the story tells the story of a young boy named Xan. He and his parents (Scott and Davis) live on a ranch in rural Kenya, where Xan finds an orphaned cheetah cub. His family adopts the cub as a pet, and the boy names him Dooms, a name that derives from the Swahili word for "male cheetah cub." Xan and Dooms grow up together and share lots of wonderful and memorable adventures, but before Xan can even grow very far into his boyhood, something happens that teaches the boy a rather difficult lesson about the circle of life.

While we might hope for a live-action Calvin and Hobbes, this tale looks to be substantially more serious than that. The antics between boy and cheetah should be fairly touching, but there seems to be little doubt that the ending of the film will be quite a tearjerker (unless it deviates from the actual story). That's okay, though, because similar circumstances certainly haven't prevented the Old Yellers and My Dog Skips of the world from being beloved family classics. (Kim Hollis/BOP)

Vital statistics for Duma Main Cast Campbell Scott, Hope Davis, Alex Michaeletos Director Carroll Ballard Screenwriter Carol Flint, Karen Janszen, Mark St. Germain Distributor Warner Bros. Trailer Click Here for Trailer Official Site http://dumamovie.warnerbros.com/ Rating PG Running Time 101 minutes Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture

Comparison films for Duma
Title	Date	Opening	Adjusted Opening	Screens	PSA	Adj PSA	Total BO	Adjusted Total	Mult
Holes	4/18/03	16.30	16.30	2331	6993.00	6993.0	67.38	67.38	4.13
Free Willy	7/16/93	7.87	11.46	1476	5332.00	7470.0	77.70	113.17	9.87
Free Willy 2	7/21/95	7.04	9.75	1931	3646.00	4861.3	30.08	41.69	3.92
My Dog Skip	3/3/00	5.86	6.55	2331	2514.00	2705.2	34.10	38.14	5.70
Fly Away Home	9/13/96	4.71	6.42	1320	3568.00	4682.0	24.54	33.47	5.21
Free Willy 3: The Rescue	8/8/97	0.99	1.30	1258	787.00	994.5	3.49	4.58	3.53